


The Weight of your Touch

by starkaryen



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: #ItsStillBeautiful, Anal Sex, Blow Jobs, Bottom Hannibal, Bottom Will, Chiyoh only appears briefly, Cuddling & Snuggling, Eventual Smut, First Kiss, First Time, Fluff and Smut, Hand Jobs, Hannibal Loves Will, Kissing, M/M, Murder Husbands, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Episode: s03e13 The Wrath of the Lamb, Sharing a Bed, Slow Burn, Switching, Top Hannibal, Top Will, Touching, Will Loves Hannibal, he doesn't know how to deal with that, like a lot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-12
Updated: 2016-10-14
Packaged: 2018-08-08 08:36:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 45,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7750741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starkaryen/pseuds/starkaryen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Chiyoh rescues both of them from the seawater, Will has to deal with his feelings for Hannibal. But even if he knows what he wants, facing it may not be as easy as falling off the cliff.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Llewcie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Llewcie/gifts).



> After writing a few post-TWOTL fics, some of them longer than others, but most of them pretty short, I wanted to write again something that was more similar to [I will not be afraid of your scars](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5721382). I had this idea for a while, but hadn't been able to start writing it until now. I hope you like it!
> 
> I will publish the first two chapters (maybe three, but I'm not sure!) within the #ItsStillBeautiful fest dates, and then I will publish the rest whenever I can, alternating it with A Fortunate Wound's updates. I don't expect this to be *too* long, but I never know with these two!
> 
> This is for you Llewcie. Thank you, not only for being a fantastic beta, but also for being a wonderful person. You are the best Winston ever ♥
> 
> A little [edit](http://starkaryen.tumblr.com/post/148842557118/the-weight-of-your-touch-fandom-hannibal-rating) I made for the fic.
> 
> ETA. I made two manips for the fic, [here](http://starkaryen.tumblr.com/tagged/my-manip).
> 
> \----
> 
> All information + links about my writing are [here](https://about.me/mizumohno).
> 
> Say hello to me @ [twitter](https://twitter.com/mizumohno) and [tumblr](http://starkaryen.tumblr.com/) :)

The blood had truly been black under the moonlight, and so had been the water that swallowed them up when they hit the Atlantic. The sky had been dark, too, when Will resurfaced, coughing water and blood as he held onto the only warm thing around him, the only thing that existed in the whole world for him; an unconscious Hannibal.

He felt like he had a block tied in his ankle, because it was so, _so_ hard keeping afloat while holding another body, and yet it was the only thing in his mind. Will looked around him looking for something, _anything_ that told him where should he go, but all he could see was the huge wall of the cliff behind them, and darkness, darkness, darkness.

He groaned, kicking the water with rage while he tried to keep his head and Hannibal’s out of the water, but a pang of pain in his injured shoulder made him cry out and sink for a moment. The back of Hannibal’s head swung on his good shoulder when Will pulled both of them out of the water again.

In that moment the horizon split in two, a light as bright as the sun blinding him for a second and making him lose his stability. Will blinked and groaned as he fought to understand what he was seeing. Was he dead? Had he died right there, and was Hannibal slipping from his grasp because he wasn’t dead yet?

Will tightened his hold on Hannibal and then he heard the engine… and he understood. The boat approached them, and Will laughed out loud like a madman. He didn’t care if it was the FBI or someone else lining up to kill them. He just knew that they had seen them, and they were going to rescue them, for one purpose or another.

****

The first time he woke up, he did it in pain; a blazing pain in his face, as if someone were cutting it in half again. Perhaps someone was. He yelled as two hands held him down, and the figure looming over him told him not to move.

Will’s pain-numbed brain filtered that command, and he lay down again. The pain returned, but that time he was expecting it, and he knew what it was: someone was stitching his wound.

“Stay still; I have to close the one on your shoulder too,” an accented low voice told him when they finished with the wound on his cheek.

“Hannibal…” Will whispered, although he wasn’t sure why.

The other person stayed quiet while they did something Will couldn’t see. When she turned around again, because he could see now who she was, Will swallowed without moving his aching cheek.

“He’s… resting. Now, stay still,” she repeated.

When Chiyoh began stitching the bleeding wound on his shoulder, Will gritted his teeth at first, but then he screamed again and his world turned dark once more.

The next few times Will regained consciousness, he tried to get up or stay awake for longer than a few minutes. But every time Chiyoh brought him something to eat and a painkiller, his mind drifted back to sleep too quickly.

One of those times, Chiyoh brought him a glass of soup. She sat on a chair by the bed as she had done each time before and stared at him as he slurped it slowly through the straw, flinching every time the hot liquid stung his sore wound.

“I should’ve let you die,” she suddenly said.

Will lowered the almost empty glass and looked at her, half covered in the shadows. The only window in the room was closed, and he hadn’t seen much light in the time he had been there, and in fact wasn’t even sure how many days had passed.

Chiyoh stood up to take the glass from his hands, only to replace it with a painkiller and a glass of water. He swallowed it without averting his eyes from her, and then gave it to her once he was finished.

“Why didn’t you?” He asked in a hoarse voice, not having talked much in the moments he had been awake.

“I would have. I would have if it weren’t for-” she left the sentence midways, and started picking up everything. When she turned to leave, he grabbed her wrist.

“How is he?”

“Why do you care?” Chiyoh spat out. She yanked her hand from Will’s grip, but didn’t move away. “You threw him off a cliff. You sent him to the jaws of the sea so he would die…”

 _No…_ , Will thought. But he only had the strength to shake his head slowly.

“I sent us both…”

Will felt already the darkness looming over him, pushing him down to the mattress. Chiyoh was silent for a long moment, so long Will thought she wasn’t going to say anything else.

“He is alive. For now.”

Chiyoh’s voice was the last thing he heard before the unconsciousness deafened everything around him.

****

A few days went by before Chiyoh allowed him to get up. She started giving him a smaller dose of the painkillers, and Will felt more awake and clear-headed. And of course, as soon as he did, the realization of everything that had happened came over him like a torrent.

Chiyoh’s words about Hannibal’s condition resonated in his head as he got up from the bed on his own for the first time and with his mind set somewhere that wasn’t the bathroom.

When he went out of his cabin, the brightness made him squint. It was daylight, the first time he was seeing it since Chiyoh had taken them out of the sea. As he made it out the door, he had to press his hands against both walls of the narrow hallway to stabilize himself; the boat was moving, unlike the times when he had gotten up before.

When he found the stairs up, he was going to climb them when he heard a groan. He stopped immediately and turned to the closed door at his left, and just as he was leaning in, he heard the same sound.

Will opened the door carefully, and the light spilling from the stairs revealed a cabin exactly like his; a bunk bed, a simple and empty desk and a wardrobe. The only difference was that in the bottom bed where he had been lying in his room, there was another body.

“Hannibal…?”

Will went inside, his steps slow and quiet as opposed to his heart, pounding behind his ribs. It _was_ Hannibal, but a much different one that he remembered. His skin was pale and covered in a thin layer of sweat, his eyes moving behind his eyelids, but not opening. Will swallowed as his gaze travelled to the wide bandage that covered most of his stomach. In that moment, Hannibal groaned again, and his brow twitched in a restless dream.

“What are you doing here?”

Chiyoh’s voice startled him, but he didn’t move backwards when she entered the room and put herself between them, rage emanating from her. She left a tray on the little bedside table, which contained new bandages, alcohol, scissors…

“The wound…” Will started, but stopped himself, since he didn’t want to say it out loud.

“It became infected,” Chiyoh confirmed as she sat in the chair beside the bed and took the scissors. She began to carefully cut the bandage as Will couldn’t do anything else but stare wide eyed. “He’s out of danger now. He’s healing, but he still has a low fever.”

Will nodded even if Chiyoh wasn’t looking at him. He suspected she was speaking out loud more for her own sake than his.

“Is there something I can do to help?” he asked honestly.

Chiyoh’s hands halted, and she turned to him, the same annoyed expression she had every time she looked at him. “No. You should get out of here, have something to eat. I’d rather not have to feed you again.”

The last thing Will wanted to do was leave the room, not now that he had found Hannibal, even if now that she had said it, he realized he _was_ really hungry. Will took the other chair in the room and sat beside her as she finished cutting through the dressing. She paused for a second and looked at him out of the corner of her eye, as if she were considering whether to drag him out of the room or not. In the end, she just focused back on the dressing, opening and revealing a still swollen and red wound. She began to expertly treat the wound, silently giving him things that Will held for her until she wordlessly asked for them in return.

When the moment to apply the new dressing came, Will moved to help her maneuver Hannibal’s unconscious body, but she glared at him before he could touch him, and so he observed how she did it by herself, as she had done all those days.

She gathered up everything in the little tray after that, while Will observed Hannibal, who didn’t look like he was having a nightmare anymore.

“You don’t deserve him, you know?”

Will didn’t look away from Hannibal, but he sighed through his nostrils.

“We don’t deserve each other. And at the same time, it’s the only thing we deserve.”

He felt Chiyoh’s gaze on him, almost burning him, but he didn’t turn until her voice filled the room’s silence again.

“Come. You should eat something solid.”

That time Will did look at her as she went out of the room. He followed her after a second, giving Hannibal a last glance before closing the door.

Chiyoh started moving around the deck once they were there, and she didn’t let him do anything else but sit and observe. When Chiyoh served him the first thing that wasn’t soup for the first time in days, he had to control himself not to eat everything like a starved beast.

“Where are we going?” he asked after a couple of bites, taking a forkful of the scrambled eggs. Chiyoh looked at him like she had been those past days; as if she were considering pushing him off the boat, as she had done in the train.

“Colombia,” she said bluntly, as if daring him to ask anything else. Will didn’t.

They ate in silence, Will listening to the roar of the waves against the hull of the ship, but finding no peace at all in the sound that once had served to calm him.

****

That night, Will didn’t go back to his cabin. Instead, he went to Hannibal’s. He sat in the chair Chiyoh had occupied before and observed him, staying still every time he wasn’t sure if Hannibal’s chest was moving at all, and breathing again when he realized it was.

“Wake up…” he asked him in a whisper.

That night, Will lay down in the bed above Hannibal’s, falling asleep while listening to the other’s breathing. He did so as well as the following night, and the one after…

Every night, Will asked Hannibal to wake up, and every day, Hannibal would wake up only to mumble feverishly in different languages, his own name being the only thing Will could discern among his words.

The moments he would regain consciousness, they were mostly in silence, or Chiyoh would stare him out of the room to tend to Hannibal’s wounds alone.

Finally, after the fifth night sleeping in the bunk bed above Hannibal, he woke up to find the door hanging open. The boat was almost still, only rocking a little bit with the sea’s waves. He yawned carefully due to the still healing cheek wound, and stretched out carefully due to the still healing shoulder wound. When he rolled over to look down, his stomach lurched. Will kicked the sheets away and jumped to the floor, looking at the empty and perfectly made bed in which Hannibal had been the previous night. Will put on his sweater on his way out, staggering a little going into the hallway, but right as he put a foot on the first step of the stairs, he froze.

“…even if it almost cost you your life? Is this really what you want?” Chiyoh’s voice asked, the tone clearly strained.

Will waited, and then he heard something that sounded like a cup being set on a plate. And when he heard Hannibal’s voice, his heart began hammering inside his chest.

“It almost cost _both_ of our lives. But he also freed us.”

“He pushed you off a cliff and into the sea, how can you be sure of that? Everything is forgiven, just like that…?”

A pause stretched out, in which Will held his breath. Not a sound could be heard in the boat in those long seconds before Hannibal finally answered.

"I forgave him long before the instinct of pushing us even crossed his mind."

Will let out a long, silent breath as he felt his heart still pounding inside his chest. He thought about turning around and go back to the room, but when neither Hannibal nor Chiyoh spoke for a few seconds, he decided to go upstairs, stepping on the stairs harder than he normally would.

Both of them stared at Will as he made his entrance onto the deck, seated at the small murphy table and two of the four chairs. Hannibal was the first to move, lifting his cup of what Will guessed would be coffee, and taking a sip from it in careful movements. Chiyoh took her own cup too, but only to stand up and leave it in the sink.

“I’ll be downstairs,” she announced.

Will stepped aside to let her walk by to the stairs, and then they were alone. Will took a mug from the counter and sat in the place Chiyoh had left, across from Hannibal. The other took a crystal jar with coffee in it and looked at him with his eyebrows raised in a silent question. When Will nodded, he filled his mug with the still steaming drink.

They were silent for a few moments, Hannibal chewing on his, Will guessed, already cold toast, and Will just sipping the coffee and trying to look anywhere except at Hannibal, who was decidedly and unapologetically staring at him.

“How are you feeling?” Will finally asked him, and Hannibal instantly stretched his lips in a smile.

“Pretty good, considering the infection.” He set the mug on the table and spun it a little until the handle was aligned with the table’s edge. “It will still take me some time until I’m in top shape again, though. How are your wounds?”

Hannibal’s fingers twitched over the table, and he intertwined his hands together. Will wondered if he had meant to stretch out and touch the wound in his cheek to see for himself, and his heart skipped a beat. Will leaned backwards against the back of his chair.

“I’m fine. The cheek almost doesn’t hurt anymore. The shoulder is slow, but I can feel it healing.”

“Yes, it seems like Chiyoh has done a good job with both of us.”

Will snorted a chuckle, and he nodded. “Yeah, she has,” he confessed. As much as Chiyoh didn’t like Will, he had to admit that she _had_ saved both of their lives.

They were quiet again for a moment, and then Will looked again. Hannibal was looking at him right in the eye, and Will didn’t avert his gaze that time.

“Chiyoh… told me we were going to Colombia?”

“Yes. Well, that’s only the first logical stop.”

Will felt the need to ask a million questions, but in the end, there was only one that mattered right now, and so he set his own mug down and intertwined his hands just like Hannibal.

“And what would be the next logical stop?”

It took the other a few seconds to answer. Will’s question implied that he was fine with the plan Chiyoh and Hannibal apparently had. Will saw the realization slightly change Hannibal’s features.

“Argentina,” Hannibal said after a pause. “I have a property there. Isolated, perfect to finish healing our wounds. That is… as long as you want to.”

Will swallowed and nodded. “Argentina sounds good.”

They ate the rest of their breakfast in silence.

****

The rest of the days in the boat went by in a sort of calm quietness. Chiyoh was the most active one, coming and going around the small boat, setting everything in a way that told Will this was clearly not the first time she was had sailed. Will helped a little in the sailing, but spent most of his time on the deck, looking at the infinite sea that stretched in front of them and smelling the sea-scent with his mind completely blank and Hannibal by his side most of the time. He did not want to think about anything, and so he didn’t.

But sooner than later, they saw land in the horizon, and soon after that, they arrived in Barranquilla.

It was ridiculous how very few possessions they had in the boat, merely the clothes Will guessed Chiyoh had bought and they had been wearing, and a backpack full of supplies. Will wondered, once again, if the boat and everything inside had been Chiyoh’s idea or Hannibal’s, in some way. But after seeing Hannibal discover things in the boat with amazement and a few curious glanced shot at Chiyoh, Will had guessed it was the first option.

They unloaded the single suitcase and backpack from the boat, and only there, right in the docks, Will realized Chiyoh hadn’t taken any of her things out.

She helped Hannibal get out of the boat carefully, and stood before him, and Will understood this was goodbye; she wasn’t coming with them.

“Are you… sure?” she asked him, and Will looked away, trying to give them even the illusion of privacy.

“Yes.”

“Very well… You have the contact’s address here; he’ll be waiting for you. He’ll supply you with the car, too.”

Will turned around in time to see Hannibal putting a few papers on the inside of his jacket. And then, Hannibal spoke in a language Will couldn’t understand, that he could only guess would be Lithuanian. Chiyoh simply nodded, and after shooting him a last glance, she returned to the boat.

****

The _contact_ turned out to be exactly what Will could’ve expected. Someone led them to the back of a photographic studio, where they took a picture of them and, twenty minutes later, they walked out with new identities in passports and IDs that said that Will had been born in Michigan and Hannibal in Romania, and the keys to a car they would pick up the next day.

Will didn’t question Hannibal about it, and neither did Hannibal question Will when he chose a shabby, old motel that was out of the center of the city to stay the night.

“We shouldn’t stay in two rooms,” Will said as Hannibal searched in the small pocket of the backpack. His hands paused for a moment, but then he resumed his search and took out a few pesos.

“Yes. It’s probably safer to remain together.”

Will nodded, and he took the money Hannibal was offering him. He left him standing in the hallway, and he went into the reception, where a man as old as the building received him. He asked if they had vacancy – they had. He asked if they had a room with two single beds – they had. The man at the desk didn’t even ask him for their fake IDs; he merely accepted the money and gave him a key in exchange.

“Second floor, room 22, through those stairs,” he told him in an accented English, pointing outside the reception where Hannibal was waiting.

Will nodded and went out. He took the suitcase, which was the heaviest thing, and Hannibal took the backpack. On the way to the second floor, Hannibal had to pause for a moment, and Will instinctively reached out to hold him, but stopped himself right when his hand was about to touch his back. Hannibal quickly recovered himself and they made it to the second floor. As soon as Will opened the door, his stomach sank. There was only one Queen size bed.

“What the…” he said, and he stepped back to check the room’s number again. It _was_ their room. “There must be a mistake, hang on.”

“Will-”

He left the suitcase on the floor and went away and downstairs before Hannibal could say anything else. The guy raised his gaze in the reception with the same bored look he had given him when Will had first come in.

“Excuse me. I asked for a room with _two_ beds?” he told him, and the guy just frowned. “Two… _Dos camas_?” he repeated in Spanish, holding up two fingers.

“No available, sorry. Just room with one bed,” said the guy, shrugging.

Will pursed his lips and forced himself to breathe in and out before thanking the guy for nothing and returning upstairs. Hannibal was already inside the room, sitting on the edge of the bed, and Will paused for a moment at the door. Hannibal looked like he was still in pain, despite how hard he was trying to conceal it.

“They don’t have rooms with two beds,” he said, and Hannibal straightened immediately.

“We’re lucky they have rooms _with_ beds,” Hannibal said, and Will smiled a little, the annoyance he had felt disappearing as he nodded to his joke.

After settling and taking a shower with either too hot or too cold water, they had a light and silent dinner with the things they had taken from the boat. And finally, the moment of going to bed arrived. Hannibal seemed tired, so he was the first to lie down while Will pretended to be rearranging the suitcase’s contents. When he lay down beside him, he tried not to, but his gaze fell over the space between their arms. Will’s hand twitched and so he turned off the light and stayed very still, staring at the dark ceiling.

“Are you sure you’re all right to travel by car tomorrow?” Will asked him after a moment of silence in which only the distant sound of the street could be heard.

“Yes, I’m fine. We can take turns to drive, and if we have to stop a couple of days somewhere, we will.”

Will nodded even if Hannibal couldn’t see him. Very slowly, he turned and distinguished only the silhouette of Hannibal’s face. After a few seconds in which his eyes adjusted even more to the darkness, he realized Hannibal was also looking at him, and he felt his heart beating fast inside his chest.

“Goodnight, Hannibal.”

Will rolled over his left and good shoulder, with his back to Hannibal.

“Goodnight, Will.”


	2. Chapter 2

“Will.”

He opened his eyes and squinted immediately, trying to bring into focus everything around him; the inside of the old Volkswagen Will had gotten familiarized with in the past days… and Hannibal. He was in the driver’s seat, his body half turned to face him, and a small smile on his lips as he observed him. Will cleared his throat as he tried to stretch out his back.

“What…?” he started asking, but a yawn interrupted him.

“We’re here,” Hannibal answered to the unasked question, nodding outside.

Will followed Hannibal’s gesture and looked through the windshield for the first time, and he sat up and leaned forwards in his seat. In front of them was, indeed, a house. The house. He hadn’t asked Hannibal how the _property_ he had said he owned was, but he certainly wasn’t expecting _that_. The house didn’t look as opulent as the one Hannibal had owned by the cliff, the one they had been in their last night of their previous lives. This one was entirely different, and yet, it was just as strikingly beautiful.

The house was wooden and big, sitting in a clearing of the range they had been traveling through for hours, hugged by tall trees from behind and with wide and large windows looking their way and into the opposite side of the mountain.

It had taken them two weeks to get there, much more than it would’ve in good conditions. Will had started driving most of the time, since Hannibal was still weaker than him, but both being still wounded, they soon found that they had to make stops more often that both of them wanted to. The second motel they slept in, Will asked for a two-beds room once again. When they entered the room, they found that that time there _were_ two single beds, but they were joined. Neither of them suggested moving them away. The fourth night, though, they entered the room and found only one big bed. Hannibal looked at Will silently, and he shrugged and told him he had forgotten to ask for two beds. Hannibal didn’t question him further, and Will thanked him for it. When they had spent a week traveling through different countries and spending most of their time either in the old car, or resting in gas stations or motels, Will’s shoulder started hurting more than the days before.

“Are you all right?”

Will nodded by default, but then he stopped and sighed as he sank his fingers in his right shoulder blade while he rotated it. He was sitting on the edge of that night’s motel bed, and he heard Hannibal moving behind him. When he felt the bed dipping under a new weight, he wondered if Hannibal was going to go to sleep already, before dinner, but it wouldn’t have been that strange, considering the exhausting day they had had. But he suddenly felt Hannibal’s hand on his arm, and Will jumped to his feet as he turned. He stared at Hannibal wide-eyed and with his heart beating too fast. Even if he had touched him above the t-shirt’s sleeve, he felt his skin burning there, as well as his face.

“I apologize, Will, I was just-”

“No,” Will cut him off. Hannibal was sitting on his heels in the center of the bed, and Will knew very well what he had intended to do. But feeling Hannibal’s touch again had taken him by surprise. “It’s… It’s okay.”

Will let out a long, silent breath and forced himself to relax even just a little his tense muscles. Then, he slowly sat again where he had been, his back to Hannibal and still more tense than he should be.

“It’s okay,” he repeated, more for his own sake than Hannibal’s.

When he felt Hannibal’s fingers on his shoulder again, he was ready that time, but he still closed his eyes and swallowed hard. Hannibal started touching around the wounded area slowly and carefully, deft fingers clinically analyzing the damage and pressing close to the wound only a couple of times, retreating when Will hissed. Will stayed still, so still and tense his neck began to hurt too, but in a different way. But he didn’t move away, nor he stopped Hannibal’s slow movements when he dared to climb upwards, sinking his index and middle finger into the junction where shoulder and neck met, where the fabric of the shirt didn’t cover his skin. And then, as suddenly as it has started, his touch was gone, and so Will opened his eyes. He had to blink a couple of times, holding back the tears in the back of his eyes.

“You can’t drive for that many hours; your shoulder is still healing,” Hannibal said then as the mattress trembled as he moved away. His voice suddenly sounded too far. “Tomorrow I will try to take a longer turn; I think I can already manage it.”

Will nodded without turning around, and then he heard Hannibal fumbling in their backpack.

Hannibal didn’t touch him like that again after that, and Will didn’t know if he hated him, or if he was grateful for it.

Now, after staring at the house for a silent moment, they got out of the car. They unloaded everything they had been acquiring on their way, including the supplies they had bought when they had arrived in the last town they had driven by. Hannibal had told him that would be the nearest stop once they were there, and he had been right. The next time they wanted something, they would have to drive for forty minutes to get it.

The first two days there went by cleaning and arranging the house. Despite most of the furniture being covered by sheets, dust was everywhere, which quickly confirmed Will that the house had been unused for a long, _long_ time, and made him wonder how long had Hannibal had it, and if it had been for a situation that resembled in some way the one they were in, whatever it was, exactly.

The house was the perfect combination of what a snug cabin would look like, and a much bigger house that allowed privacy whenever needed. The bigger room downstairs was a sort of living and dining room; it had a table and six chairs, and next to the large window panes, a short but wide coffee table, a sofa and two armchairs around the fireplace, sitting empty in a corner. The kitchen was, as Will wouldn’t have expected otherwise, wide and equipped with everything they could ever need and more. Upstairs there were four rooms; a large bathroom – in addition to a much smaller one downstairs -, a sort of office with a desk and shelves that contained a few books, and two bedrooms of equal size and decorated with almost identical furniture, with the exception of one of them being at the front of the house, and the other at the back. When they first went upstairs, Will stood in the middle of the hallway with their suitcase in hand. Hannibal pursed his lips and nodded towards the room that looked to the back of the house.

“I’ll take this one. You can have the one with the views.”

Will opened his mouth to protest, or offer to give him the better room… _something_. But he just closed it and nodded, opening the door and going into the room that apparently was going to be his.

That night, after weeks of sleeping in horrible beds and more countless nights of sleeping in the cabin of a boat, Will fell asleep even before he was conscious of putting his head on the pillow. But the following night, even if he was just as exhausted from cleaning the house, he lay awake on the large mattress. He looked to his right, where there was more than half an empty bed. Will closed his eyes and sighed, and tried to replay in his mind the way Hannibal’s breath had sounded in the dark all the previous nights, the way the mattress shook a little when Hannibal adjusted his position… Now, the bed stayed maddeningly still, so Will turned to his side and stared outside through the wide window. The crescent moon shone bright up in the sky along with a thousand tiny stars. But Will didn’t find any peace in the view that he would’ve considered strikingly beautiful in any other situation.

****

The axe descended swiftly against the trunk, and Will bared his teeth as he flinched a little. He left the axe stuck to the wood and rotated his right shoulder as he swung the arm.

“Will.”

The single word was enough to make him turn around. Hannibal was standing there, the sliding door that led to the living room wide open. He was dressed in a pair of pants and a sweater. Will nodded as he fought to catch his breath.

“I know, I know. I shouldn’t be doing this, but…” Will said, pointing tiredly to the small pile of wood he had managed to cut before the shoulder had decided to start burning with pain.

“Would you like to go take a walk?”

Will raised his eyes to Hannibal’s then, frowning a little. He had not expected that, but he recovered from the surprise quickly and nodded. Every excuse to _do_ something that wasn’t being inside the house, in the same room as Hannibal while he read or rested and Will fought against the thousand thoughts that warred in his mind, was more than welcome. They moved the logs inside and piled them in the little basket beside the fireplace. After that, Hannibal took a plastic bag that had been already prepared in the kitchen counter, and Will took his sweater and put it on before they went out.

The weather outside was nice at that hour, and they wouldn’t need to light up the fireplace until late in the afternoon. Hannibal started walking at a slow pace, but he seemed to know where he was going. Judging by the way he had moved around the house the first days, Will had already guessed Hannibal had been there at some point. That was definitely not a house he had purchased from his house in Baltimore just in case he needed it at some point. This was a place he had bought and decorated to his liking, and where he had probably spent days or weeks. Will tried to picture Hannibal here alone, probably spending his time reading or drawing, and maybe doing this exact walk they were doing right now. He also wondered where Hannibal was taking him, since he clearly had a specific place in mind. However, Will tried to just enjoy the nature, the mix of scents coming from the flowers and the earth, and the sounds of numerous birds chirping gleefully above them. But very soon, the exertion from his attempt at chopping wood and the lack of sleep started weighing on him, making his steps clumsy and even tripping over a root, to which Hannibal turned alarmed, but Will shook his head, turning down his help before he could offer it.

After the first day of good sleep, the rest of his nights had been exactly as the second. Will would not admit to himself the reason why he was sleeping so badly, and so he lay awake for hours in his too big bed, wondering if Hannibal would already be asleep on the other side of the hallway. Other nights, he fell asleep immediately, but he was awake long before the dawn. That day had been one of those, which was why he had been restless all morning.

When he was starting to pant from the walk, even if they hadn’t been walking for that long, Hannibal finally stopped and Will nearly bumped into him. When he circled him, though, he understood why Hannibal had stopped, and why had he been hearing running water for a few minutes now. In front of them was the backwater of a river, enclosed by trees and bushes except for the small clearing they had just walked in.

Will walked by Hannibal, mesmerized by the shine of the sun in the water’s surface. But as he was approaching the bank, a big trout jumped out of the water. Will stopped where he was and smiled, following the fish with his gaze until he got lost. Another one followed the first, and another shortly after. Will didn’t notice he was laughing until he heard Hannibal’s steps right beside him, and he turned to him without losing his smile.

“I thought you could maybe fish here,” Hannibal said then, a little smile on his own lips, and his eyes not leaving Will’s. “We could buy everything you needed the next time we go to the town. _If_ you want, of course.”

Will nodded, looking to the water again. “I’d love that… Thank you.”

They sat on a near rock, and Hannibal took from the bag he had been carrying two sandwiches wrapped in plastic and a bottle of water, and gave one to Will. They ate in silence, Will’s gaze fixed on the river, but his mind more focused on the man next to him. He felt a warm feeling inside at everything Hannibal was doing, but at the same time, as he ate the sandwich, the now familiar pressure in his chest returned. It didn’t matter how much he tried to ignore it; the tension was always there.

When they finished, he was still looking at the few fishes that dared to jump out of the water when he couldn’t just bear it any longer.

“Did you really mean what you told Chiyoh?” he asked. It was only one of the thousand things that still battled inside him, but at least it was something. Hannibal didn’t answer, and so Will turned to face him. “Have you forgiven me for throwing us into the Atlantic?”

Hannibal had the bottle of water in his hand, and so he closed it and set it on the rock, beside him.

“There was nothing to forgive, Will,” he finally said, and Will’s heart started beating too fast, exactly as it had when he had heard Hannibal say it on the boat. “But if you need me to say it… Then yes, I meant it. I forgave you even before it happened.”

“Why?” Will asked before he could stop himself.

Hannibal tilted his head a little and turned his body to face him even more.

“Forgiveness has always come to us rather easily, even when we did not want it. Even when we weren’t ready yet to accept it or to forgive ourselves… it still came to us,” he said, and Will swallowed and let out a faltered breath. He was right, of course. “When you threw us off the cliff, Will, you killed us both and we were reborn in the seawater. There was _nothing_ to forgive,” he repeated.

Will couldn’t stay still anymore. He slid over the rock and towards Hannibal, and before his own mind registered his movement, Will leaned in, tilted his head and kissed Hannibal. It was merely a touch of lips against lips, but he felt it all. The scrape of Hannibal’s stubble against his skin, the little surprised twitch in Hannibal’s mouth, the heat that Will suddenly felt in his stomach, in his chest, in his face, in every single part of his body when Hannibal kissed him back… And of course, the softness of Hannibal’s warm lips against his.

As soon as Will realized what he was doing, he pulled back and stared wide-eyed at Hannibal’s face. Hannibal seemed as surprised as he was, and so Will opened his mouth to say that he was sorry, to say that he didn’t know what that was for, to say that it was the exhaustion’s fault… But every single thing would’ve been a lie, and so he closed his mouth again and stood up abruptly. He went out of the clearing as quickly as he could, not turning around when he heard Hannibal calling his name.

****

Will didn’t go out that afternoon. For hours, all he did was roam inside his room. He had kissed Hannibal. On the lips. And that was not something he could ignore. Not like the pain inside his chest he had been trying to avoid ever since he had woken up in Chiyoh’s boat. Not like the million things he had been trying to ignore for years and years.

He couldn’t help but remember Molly, since she had been the last person he had kissed before that. And with that came the realization that he had barely thought about her or Walter in all those weeks. Will sat on the edge of the bed and looked at the mark of his wedding band, the slightly paler line in his ring finger. He wondered when he had lost it, if it had been during the fight against the dragon, or right when they had hit the Atlantic’s water holding Hannibal in his arms. But the truth was, he didn’t even care, and that time he didn’t feel the distressing sensation he had felt whenever he had thought about something similar. Like all those times he had caught himself looking at Molly and with his mind miles and years away from the present.

Will sighed and ran both hands over his face. But when he was dragging them down, his fingers skimmed over his lips, and they halted there. He _had_ kissed Hannibal. And the kiss couldn’t have been more different than every other kiss he had given in his entire life. He had never kissed another man ever before. And he had never felt the way he had, the way he even felt right now remembering it.

Will stood up abruptly and looked out the large window of his room, the branches of the trees swaying with the soft wind, and the sky turning darker and darker every minute. He didn’t understand anything that was happening, and at the same time… he understood it all.

When he finally went out of his room and downstairs, it was pitch black outside, and the house was silent except for the crackling fire in the fireplace. Hannibal was sitting in one of the armchairs with a book in his lap but staring into space. When Will came into the living room, he looked up at him and closed the book he wasn’t reading. Will only heard his own heartbeats for a long moment in which he wondered what Hannibal would be thinking. Finally, he left the book on the coffee table without standing up.

“There’s chicken in the fridge if you’re hungry,” Hannibal said, his voice low and, Will thought, hurt.

“I’m… I’m not,” Will answered, and it was the truth.

Hannibal simply nodded, and he averted his gaze. Will swallowed and was about to turn around and go back to his room, but he looked at Hannibal once again.

“Hannibal…?” he called him, and the other’s gaze returned to him. In that moment, Hannibal seemed ten years younger, and as if a single word from Will would break him in a million pieces. He probably could.

“Yes?”

Will took a couple of steps towards him, thinking about the best way to say what he wanted to say. But he didn’t think there was any other way, except for the truth.

“We… can talk tomorrow. But right now I am _very_ tired, and I’d like to just have a good night’s sleep, at least for one night.”

Hannibal nodded slowly. “All right,” he said, but he didn’t move. Will pursed his lips.

“Would you mind… sleeping with me? In my bed,” he added hurriedly. “I haven’t slept well ever since we came here, and maybe I got used to it in the boat and the motels, so-”

“Of course,” Hannibal said, saving Will the trouble of continuing babbling the excuse when he really just didn’t have the strength to do it.

Hannibal finally stood up, and Will’s stomach dropped in anticipation of what he might do. But Hannibal simply put the fire out, locked the doors and turned the lights out. When he was done, he returned to Will, and they looked at each other for a second before Will turned around and walked to the stairs.

He made his way back to the room slowly, feeling each of Hannibal’s steps behind him in sync to his pounding heart. Once inside, he undressed and put on his pajama shirt with his back to him. The first nights in the motel, he had put on a pair of pants to sleep, but after a few days he had just slept without them, as he had always liked to do.

When he turned to the bed, Hannibal was already sitting in the left side of the bed. Will just went to his side and lay down, turning the lamp off when Hannibal did the same.

Thanks to the moonlight that came through the window, when he turned to look at him, Will was able to distinguish Hannibal’s features; his cheekbones, that in the dark looked even more sharp, the way his Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat in that moment, and the soft lines of his lips.

Will closed his eyes and, finally, fell asleep in a peaceful and dreamless sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone who has started reading this story!! Your support means the world, seriously! :)
> 
> I'll publish chapter 3 soon! ^^


	3. Chapter 3

When Will woke up, he yawned and stretched out as much as he could, pushing himself away from the wall with both hands. He looked to his side and rubbed one of his eyes while he searched the room. Hannibal wasn’t there, and judging by the position of the sun outside, it was way later than the hour he had woken up the previous days. Which meant he had managed to _finally_ sleep as much as he needed and more.

He got up and got dressed, and after washing up in the bathroom, he went downstairs, chasing the mouthwatering smell of bacon. Hannibal was, as he had expected, moving around the kitchen, and so Will observed him for a moment from the threshold. Hannibal’s movements were somehow different than the days before; it still wasn’t the self-assured man Will used to see and admire in his kitchen and living room in Baltimore, presenting dishes to his guests that only he knew the origin of. But it wasn’t, either, the man he had seen the previous days in this house, moving almost too carefully around him. Will had at first thought it was the wound, still hindering him. But now, looking at him, he could see the difference clearly. It seemed like he hadn’t been the only one holding back and being tense those past days... And Will realized he very much liked to see Hannibal this way, this brighter and more relaxed version of him.

Hannibal finished cooking in that moment, serving the bacon on the two plates that sat on the counter already filled with eggs, toast and fruit. When Hannibal turned with both plates in hand, he froze at finding him there, and so Will nodded once as he pursed his lips.

“Morning.”

“Good morning, Will,” he said, looking at him up and down for a second. Will felt himself blush a little at his stare, and so he cleared his throat. “Are you hungry?”

“Very much.”

Hannibal smiled and set the plates on the kitchen island, where there were a couple of stools. They ate breakfast there in silence.

Even if the tension between them was still there, Will could feel like something _had_ changed. He could still very much feel the pressure in his chest, building up as he remembered the day before, the kiss… He looked at Hannibal out of the corner of his eye, and decided they couldn’t keep delaying talking about it. He had already delayed everything else for years, and he just couldn’t do it anymore.

When they finished, Hannibal took everything to the sink, and Will stayed at the other side of the kitchen island while the other turned the water on and prepared to wash the plates.

“Hannibal,” he called him as he stood up from his seat. It worked immediately, Hannibal turning the water off and turning around with a kitchen cloth to dry his hands.

Will dragged a hand across the back of his neck, scratching his nape just to have something to do. He sighed as he lowered his hand and looked back at Hannibal, who was patiently waiting.

“I’m… sorry about yesterday,” he said, lowering his voice, and Hannibal tilted his head. “About leaving that way.”

“It’s okay, Will. You don’t have to apologize-”

“But I want to,” Will blurted.

Hannibal kept silent for a moment. He left the cloth on the counter, and then he parted his lips slowly.

“You ran away,” he said, and Will _finally_ felt what he had only sensed the night before; the sadness drenching Hannibal’s voice.

“Yes, it… wasn’t what I expected,” Will confessed.

Hannibal’s face changed then slightly so, his gaze dropping to the counter as he tilted his chin up, as if to conceal the hurt Will could clearly see now.

“I understand. I’m sorry you felt that way.”

“No, Hannibal, I- I didn’t think it would feel… God,” Will huffed out of frustration, because it shouldn’t be this difficult. He closed his eyes and when he opened them again, he stared at the counter as he said the words. “I wasn’t expecting it to feel so… natural.”

When he dared to look up, Hannibal was frozen and with an unreadable expression in his face. Will could feel his heart pounding hard against his chest once again, the words finally out. But that time he was feeling braver, and once he had started talking, he found that he _could_ keep going.

“Hannibal… What do _you_ want?” He asked, surprising even himself. “Right now, right here, in this house. It’s been weeks and we’ve travelled miles and miles but we haven’t talked about _anything_. Just… tell me what you want.”

He flinched as if Will had punched him, but he didn’t look away from him. Hannibal circled the kitchen island slowly until he was right in front of him, only a step separating them.

“You, Will. _You_. I want what I’ve always wanted, as I told you that night by the cliff. I want you to be free of your own shackles. For you to be yourself… and happy. However that comes for you now.”

Will gasped an intake of breath, because he had been holding it without being conscious about it. He could feel his throat burning with all the words he wanted to say, but didn’t know how to start. ‘ _But do you… ache for him?_ ’ Words spoken what felt like a lifetime ago resonated in his mind.

“Tell me something, Will…” Hannibal continued when he didn’t answer. “How did you feel… after we killed Francis?”

Will smiled shakily then, because that was an easy question, something he _could_ answer.

“I’ve never felt more… peaceful.”

“Is that what bothers you?”

Will huffed out a chuckle, and he nodded, annoyance taking over him suddenly. Not directed at Hannibal, but at himself.

“Of course it is! I shouldn't feel this way around you after everything we've been through, after everything we’ve done to each other. And I shouldn't feel this way after having killed someone. And I _especially_ shouldn't feel this way after having chosen to stay with you, after all."

Hannibal's brow twitched then at that last bit of information, and Will knew in that moment why. Even after everything they _had_ been through, even if Will was here, in a house in the middle of Nowhere, Argentina, Hannibal still didn’t know that. He still wasn’t sure whether Will was going to stay with him or go away.

"You have made that choice?" he asked in a low voice.

Will couldn’t help but smiling a little then. His fingers twitched at his side with the need of reaching out to Hannibal, so he lifted his hand and placed the palm flat on the counter.

"Hannibal… I made that choice the moment I reached out for my gun at seeing you bleeding out on the floor. I made it when I took the knife out of my shoulder and drove it into Dolarhyde's stomach. I made it, too, while I was embracing you… And I made it once again when we resurfaced and I held you as strongly as I could,” he made a pause, in which both of them didn’t look away from the other, didn’t move at all. Will finally looked down for a second. “Knowing what I want was not the difficult thing, Hannibal…”

Hannibal took a step towards him then, erasing the distance between them, but not touching him at all. Will gasped and looked up again.

"And… what is it that you want?" he asked. Will smiled a little again, because it _was_ such a simple question, and it had, after all, such a simple answer.

"I want... I _need_ you, Hannibal," each word punctuated by a pause.

Will had told him exactly those words weeks ago, standing in the BSHCI, with Hannibal strapped to a restraint chair. But the situation couldn’t have been more different, nor the meaning of his words.

Will looked down again, inhaling deep through his nose and letting out a faltered breath, feeling better and more free than he had in weeks, maybe in his entire life. He hadn’t realized just how much those words had weighed inside him until he had let them out. Now that he had, he felt as if he was being truly honest with himself for the first time since that night on the cliff, when he had confessed to Hannibal how _beautiful_ it had really been... And he didn’t want to ever feel anything else that wasn’t this way.

Will reached out and slowly brushed the back of his hand over Hannibal’s. The light contact was enough to send a jolt that made his skin prickle all the way up his arm. Will’s breath hitched in his throat and he heard Hannibal gasping quietly, and so he kept going. He drew a line across Hannibal’s hand with three fingers, dragging them to his wrist, where he circled it, feeling Hannibal’s pulse beating rapidly against them. Before he could overthink it, he lifted his other hand and pressed it against Hannibal’s stomach, right over the gunshot wound. Will sank his fingers lightly against the sweater, but cupped his palm over the place where his closed but still healing wound was under the garment. He tried to keep his touch light, fearing he could hurt him if he pressed over the wound, and he felt Hannibal holding his breath, staying completely still. When Will started dragging his hand slowly up across his stomach and to his chest, this time pressing his palm in earnest against the soft fabric, Hannibal did let out a heavy breath. Will continued until he met his shoulder, where his fingers curled as he grabbed a handful of the sweater.

Will’s eyes traveled then to Hannibal’s for the first time since he had started touching him, and he found his gaze locked on Will, his lips parted to let out ragged breaths.

Hannibal swallowed and Will wet his lips before sighing and leaning in. He dropped his head against Hannibal’s chest, his fingers tightening his hold around Hannibal’s sweater as he dragged his other hand up Hannibal’s forearm. He nuzzled beneath Hannibal’s jaw, feeling his heart pounding loudly in his own throat as he fought to keep back the tears in the back of his eyes. Hannibal pressed his cheek against Will’s forehead, and his free hand found Will’s shirt at his waist.

It was the same position they had been in the moments before Will had circled Hannibal’s neck and thrown them off the bluff. It had been the first time Will had _truly_ touched Hannibal, and ever since he had awoken in the boat, it had been everything he had wanted to do, everything he had feared to do. Because, as he had told Hannibal… how could he feel _this_ way?

This time, they would not plunge into the sea. But Will felt Hannibal’s trembling hand on his lower back, and he thought again what he had felt that night: that Hannibal would accept anything Will would do to him, and he wouldn’t do anything to fight back. Will had already known very well the reason, but feeling it was another thing entirely. And in this moment, the two of them holding each other again, he felt once again the extent of Hannibal’s blazing feelings for him.

They were like that for a long moment. Will with his eyes closed and letting himself calm down slowly as he felt the graze of his cheek and beard against Hannibal’s sweater, smelled the man’s natural scent, and listened to his heartbeat slowing down.

When he finally moved, it felt like he was just waking up from a dream. As he was pulling backwards, he felt Hannibal’s breath against his skin. They were _so_ close, and when Will looked at Hannibal, he could see that his eyes were watery. Hannibal’s gaze travelled across Will’s face then, stopping for a second over his lips. Will felt his heart quickening again, the air around them heavy, and so he pulled further back.

“I don’t know how to… How to deal with this,” Will said, his voice raspy as if he hadn’t used it in days.

Hannibal looked him in the eye again and nodded.

“Don’t worry, we… We will figure it out. As slowly as you want. In any way that you want and need, Will.”

Will realized that Hannibal was almost babbling, as if he truly didn’t know what to say. Will hadn’t just caught him off guard… he probably didn’t know how to deal with anything that was happening, either.

Will nodded, and then he loosened the grip he still had over Hannibal’s forearm and his sweater. When he lowered both hands, freeing Hannibal of his hold, he was suddenly aware of everything around them. They were still in the kitchen, the remainder of their breakfast waiting in the counter or the sink. It was strange how trivial all seemed after that.

“I think…” Hannibal said then, and Will focused back on him. “I should go to the town today. We are starting to run out of a few basic things, and maybe I could start preparing more elaborate meals.”

“Oh… Yes. That’s a good idea.”

“You could come with me…? If you want, of course.”

Will’s lips stretched in a wide smile as he nodded.

****

The town was small and secluded, but it had a few stores as they had already checked the day they had arrived there. It was perfect for them; not a lot of people, it looked like a place with awful Internet connection, and the people who lived there didn’t seem to care about them as they walked through the grocery store’s aisles. When they left the groceries in the car and strolled along the streets looking at the different stores, Will allowed himself to breathe a little and observe Hannibal. His posture seemed more relaxed again, as he had seemed that morning in the kitchen, and so he smiled. He also looked at his eyes, and he wondered what color they were, exactly. He had always thought them a kind of light brown, but here in the outside, he realized they looked a thousand different colors. They _were_ brown, but also hazel, green and many more. His hair also looked ashen under the bright morning sunlight, and he marveled at the way the color changed when they were outdoors or inside a building.

When Hannibal turned, Will averted his eyes, having been caught staring. The little smile curling his lips upwards stayed in place, even when he felt himself blushing.

They found a hunting gear store, and Hannibal’s eyebrow quirked up as he pushed the door open, and Will shook his head a little without losing his smile. Will went straight to the fishing supplies, examining in a few minutes the few rods and lures they had, since the store was rather small.

When Hannibal returned from the other side of the store, where they had quite the collection of hunting knives, Will looked to the one in his hand, kept in its sheath. Hannibal shrugged a little.

“Just in case. Do you like any of them?” he asked Will, nodding towards the rods.

“This is the only decent one. But…”

Hannibal tilted his head. “But?”

“It’s too expensive. Shouldn’t we save the money we have?” he asked, lowering his voice so the salesman behind the counter couldn’t hear them, even if he was currently attending another customer.

Hannibal took the rod from Will’s hands and gestured towards the lures.

“Take anything you want, Will. Money won’t be our problem.”

He left him there after that and walked towards the counter, where he set the fishing rod and the knife. Will took everything he could need and followed his path. Will wasn’t stupid; he knew someone like Hannibal, who had different houses spread through the globe and had spent his entire life in disguise, probably had accounts that he could access in case he needed them. However, Will looked amazed at how Hannibal spoke a few words in Spanish and paid for everything without a blink. It amazed him how natural it felt. It didn’t feel like they were on the run, like they were being searched by several organizations and more people that he could count. It felt… normal.

When they arrived back to the house, Hannibal went straight to the kitchen with a few groceries, and started making lunch. Will unloaded everything else they had bought; not only the fishing equipment, but also a few things for Hannibal to draw and new clothes for both of them.

Once he was done, he went to the kitchen and leaned against the door’s frame, observing Hannibal as he cooked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A month ago, I published a draft of the moment in this chapter where they touch on twitter, [here](https://twitter.com/mizumohno/status/752299802604560384). It was just a draft, since all I had back then was the idea and a few drafts like this one, so now you can read that as a sort of "Hannibal's POV" of the moment :)
> 
> Thanks once again for your kudos, comments and everything!!<3


	4. Chapter 4

The next day, Will woke up again to an empty bed. The night before they had gone to bed together, that time without Will having to ask Hannibal. They hadn’t touched after that morning, and the air around them felt heavy once again, but in a very different way.

Will had wanted to reach out across the mattress, but he contained himself, being too aware of how it had felt like to touch him. Instead, he turned to his right side, facing Hannibal. His shoulder still hurt a little with certain positions and movements, but he endured the minor ache as he fell asleep, looking at Hannibal’s darkened face through his closing eyelids.

As soon as he got up from the bed, he dressed in the worst clothes he now owned and almost trotted down the stairs and to the kitchen.

“I’m going to go fishing today,” he announced as they ate breakfast, breaking the silence and the stolen glances they were shooting each other.

Hannibal took a sip from his mug of coffee and nodded. “Could I… accompany you? If it’s an activity you’d rather do alone, it’s completely all right, though.”

Will smiled and cut a piece from his waffle.

“I was counting on you coming with me, actually. You could prepare something for lunch,” he suggested, to which Hannibal nodded in agreement once again.

After finishing breakfast and preparing everything, they headed again to the clearing. Will observed that Hannibal still flinched a little when the ground was uneven and his steps probably pulled the skin around the stomach’s wound. They had left the worst of their wounds in the boat. But where Will’s shoulder still ached and his cheek merely stung sometimes, Hannibal must still feel sore, since his wound had been the worst.

He was still thinking about that when they made it into the clearing, and for a moment Will stood as mesmerized as the first time, observing everything. Hannibal settled on the rock they had used the last time, taking from the backpack he had prepared the sketchbook and pencils he had bought. Will took off his shoes – since the store didn’t have clothes or shoes apt to fish – and rolled his pants up. The next hours went by too quickly, as it always happened to Will every time he was fishing. The first few minutes, he could feel the stare of Hannibal from the rock as Will tied the hooks and lures. But once he started to really fish, everything around him quietly disappeared, the only thing he heard the quiet flow of the water around him.

After catching the second trout and putting it in the bucket with the first one, Will washed his hands and looked up to find Hannibal’s gaze on him. Will took the gear and approached the rock, leaving everything aside. When he sat on the rock with a tired but satisfied sigh, he glanced at the sketchbook Hannibal had in his lap. He didn’t need to observe it much longer to recognize the lines of river, the trees around them, the bushes in the opposite bank… and himself. In one of the sketches, Hannibal had captured him as he was casting the line, his upper body half turned in a position that looked more elegant than the one he probably had had in that moment. Another of the drawings was Will’s head from behind, his disheveled hair sticking out in all directions, and the last one was a close up of his face. Will looked up to find Hannibal’s eyes on him, studying his reaction.

“They’re… very nice. But I’m sure I don’t look as good as you draw me,” he joked, smirking a little. Hannibal leaned slightly towards him.

“I assure you, Will, even if I spent the rest of my life drawing you and only you, I would never be able to really capture how beautiful you are.”

Will’s smirk fell from his face, and he felt his cheeks, ears and neck getting immediately hot. He averted his eyes as he opened and closed his mouth, unable to think of anything at all to say to that.

“Hannibal…”

“I’m sorry.”

Will saw Hannibal closing the sketchbook and putting it inside the backpack, taking out instead the bag with their lunch. Will tried to tell him that he didn’t have to apologize even if he didn’t know how to answer something like that. But nothing came out of his closed up throat, and so instead he reached out and put his hand over Hannibal’s. The other immediately stilled and looked at him again. Will could feel his heart pounding loudly in his chest, but he held his gaze as he felt the back of Hannibal’s hand against his palm.

“Thank you,” he managed to say in a low voice.

Hannibal nodded after a couple of seconds, and Will withdrew his hand. Hannibal resumed taking their meal out of the bag, and they ate in a comfortable silence. When they finished and gathered everything up, they returned with the bucket with the fishes swinging at Will’s side, the two of them glancing at each other from time to time as they dodged the roots and branches in their way.

That night, Hannibal prepared one of the trouts for dinner. When Will returned downstairs from the shower, Hannibal was already waiting for him. The scene he found froze him right where he was. While over the previous days they had simply had lunch and dinner with just the necessary things to eat, now the table was completely set and decorated; a beautiful tablecloth, silverware he didn’t know they had in the house and a bouquet of flowers that Will didn’t even know when Hannibal had picked up. And yet, the Hannibal that was waiting for him by the table couldn’t have been different than the old one, dressed in new but similar clothes as what he had been wearing those days: simple slacks and a different sweater.

Will accepted the chair Hannibal was presenting to him, and raised his eyebrows at seeing the wine glasses in front of them.

“Did the doctor say we were finally allowed to drink alcohol?” he asked as Hannibal served the wine.

“I believe the doctor will say it’s okay for me to stop taking the painkillers; see how the next few days go…”

Will smiled and nodded, and he took his glass as Hannibal sat across from him. Will hadn’t taken any pills for at least a week now. Hannibal had been lowering the dosage, but he still had been taking at least one every day, keeping the pain at bay when it became too much.

When they started eating, Will moaned a little at tasting the fish. It was, without a doubt, the best meal he was having in a _really_ long time.

“This is really good, Hannibal.”

“You may congratulate the provider. I believe it’s a fairly fresh product,” Hannibal said, and Will smiled widely.

Hannibal smirked, proud of Will’s reaction, and focused back on his meal.

They moved to the fireplace area after dinner. Will opened the whiskey bottle he had dared to buy in the grocery store. It looked like an awful brand, but when he tasted it, he found that it was tolerable, at least; or maybe he hadn’t drunk anything in too long. When he joined Hannibal by the fire, he lifted his own glass to him, but the other shook his head before returning his gaze to the fire.

Will kept observing him, his eyes dropping to Hannibal’s shoulders, covered in what was perhaps a little too big sweater. He seemed smaller than he had always looked in his suits, and Will smirked a little.

“You’re dressing this way on purpose, aren’t you?” Will asked, which made Hannibal look up to him again.

“Do my clothes displease you in any way?” he asked, but he didn’t look offended.

“Not at all. But you’re dressing that way to look less intimidating.” Will brought the glass to his lips, taking a slow sip as Hannibal narrowed his eyes slightly, the corner of his mouth twitching. Will smiled again, knowing he was right. “It’s the same thing you did when we met each other.”

“I… didn’t know you had realized about that,” Hannibal confessed.

“Of course I did. At the time I thought you had done it just to look friendlier, and not as a psychiatrist. But come on. You were dressed in a pair of pants and a sweater with a blazer. After that first case together, you were all dashing suits. It _was_ a noticeable change, Hannibal.”

Hannibal smiled warmly then, and Will felt heat taking over his face again, but it had nothing to do with the warmth of the fire.

“You must know, even if I started doing it on purpose… It is not, in any way, a ruse.”

“I know,” Will said immediately.

Will had presumed that, even if he was dressing that way for his sake, this was both the logical thing, having in mind that they were on the run, and also a version of a sort of more relaxed Hannibal. And Will liked very much seeing more of that human side of him, of which he had only seen a glimpse through the years.

Will looked at his glass for a moment, and before he could regret it, he reached out between them and took Hannibal’s hand with his. He sensed Hannibal’s fingers tightening and loosening in the span of a second, and Will had to contain the warm smile that threatened to stretch his lips. When he looked at him, Hannibal seemed a little breathless once again, his lips parted and his chest raising up and down with a silent gasp. Will turned around and pulled Hannibal to the couch, where they sat without letting go of the other’s hand.

Will let himself relax on the sofa’s cushions, the hand with Hannibal’s in it warm, the other cold against the glass of whiskey.

“I never dared to imagine us… to imagine you in this way. With me,” Hannibal said then, bringing Will back to reality.

“Holding hands by the fireplace in the middle of Argentina?” Will joked, his skin prickling a little because of the alcohol and the day’s exhaustion. But Hannibal smiled fondly, and he knew he wasn’t going to get away from that conversation with a joke, so he cleared his throat after a silence. “I did.”

“You did…?” Hannibal asked, knitting his brow in surprise.

Will looked for a moment to his glass, and he took a larger gulp before leaning to the coffee table and setting the glass there.

“My imagination is not something I can usually put a stop to. So once I started being aware of how you really felt for me, and then after hearing it confirmed…”

“Confirmed?”

“Bedelia,” Will said, and it was explanation enough. Hannibal pursed his lips and nodded once, understanding. “I started thinking about you… about us. In… every different way. Even when I still didn’t accept anything.”

Hannibal stayed quiet for a long moment. Will moved his hand a little, unclenching and clenching his fingers again, daring to brush his thumb over the back of Hannibal’s hand.

“I didn’t know you were aware of the nature of my feelings,” Hannibal confessed then, his voice strained.

Maybe it was the alcohol emboldening him, or maybe it was that, exactly as he had felt when he had touched Hannibal in the kitchen, somehow saying the truth felt liberating.

“I started noticing… in Baltimore.”

“When you were baiting me,” Hannibal said, hurt taking over his lowered voice a bit.

“Yes.”

Hannibal turned to him then, the dancing flames reflecting on his slightly watery eyes.

“Was it… was any of it real? The conversations, the dinners, the discussions about running away together…”

“Some of it, yes,” Will confessed, his throat closing up a little. “I only truly realized it after _that_ night, in your kitchen, after you left me. I…” Will paused, and his heart quickened inside his chest. “I _did_ want to run away with you, Hannibal. But I couldn’t, not yet. You have to know that.”

Will remembered the countless days after everything had gone so terribly wrong, with Hannibal gone, in which he had had just his thoughts as company. He had gone over every little moment spent together a million times, turning them up and down in his mind. How could he not had seen it then, how could he not have realized it up until Hannibal’s knife was about to go into his belly…? In that moment, right after the realization washed over him, Will had accepted the blade for his sins, and because in the end, _he_ had broken their teacup, not Hannibal.

Now, Hannibal let out a ragged breath that turned into a somewhat shy smile.

“The teacup did come together, Will,” he said, as if he was reading his mind. “It took years and countless battles between us, but a piece of it was restored. And here we are.”

“Here we are…” Will said, nodding.

Will leaned in towards him, closing his eyes and pressing his forehead to Hannibal’s. The man’s hand twitched against Will’s in surprise, or maybe it was, yet again, Hannibal restraining himself not to touch him on his own, not before Will touched him first.

Will lifted his other hand and cupped Hannibal’s neck. He breathed out a silent laugh at the feeling of Hannibal’s body so close to his own, at the feeling of the man’s skin beneath his hand, his pulse beating against his thumb. Warm. Alive.

He pulled back enough to open his eyes and look at Hannibal. A tear was rolling down his cheek, and Will smiled before leaning in again and pressing his lips to the tear. When he tilted his head further, he heard Hannibal saying his name in a breathless whisper, and Will finally kissed him on the lips. At first all he could taste was the salty tear, but then Will parted his lips and sucked at Hannibal’s bottom one, his entire body set alight. It was _definitely_ not like any other kiss Will had had in his entire life, and yet it could not have felt better. His heart was beating so loudly, it was all he could hear; the feeling of the other’s lips was everything he could feel.

Hannibal kissed him back after the initial surprise, his lips surrounding Will’s upper one. But he knew Hannibal was holding himself back, not leaning into him, his other hand not searching Will in any way. Will pressed towards Hannibal a little, and he dared to brush Hannibal’s lips with his own tongue, feeling his lower stomach somersaulting. He pulled back abruptly, staring at Hannibal agape as he tried to catch his breath.

Will slid to the edge of the sofa as he released Hannibal, whose fingers had been intertwined with Will’s all that time. He took the glass and drained the whisky left before setting it back on the table.

“Will…” Hannibal croaked from behind, the cushions trembling a little with the movement as he imitated Will’s posture.

“It’s okay- I’m…” he told him, because he knew how his reaction seemed for Hannibal. Will looked at him, at this version of a breathless Hannibal, looking at him like he was the most precious thing in the world, like he would plummet off the cliff over and over just for him. Will swallowed and wet his lips before speaking again. His lips tasted like wine and whiskey combined. “It feels… good.”

Will huffed out a chuckle, because it was completely true, and Hannibal just nodded slowly, his eyes traveling across his face, pausing at Will’s lips and returning to his eyes. Will had to fist his hand so he wouldn’t lean towards Hannibal again.

After putting out the fire and turning off the lights, they went to Will’s bedroom together. Will changed and they lay down on their respective sides of the bed, as the nights before. But that time, once they turned off the bedside lamp, Will shifted on the mattress, getting close to Hannibal. He put his head slowly between the pillow and Hannibal’s shoulder, waiting in case the other expressed any discomfort, and set his hand over Hannibal’s arm when he didn’t. They were both still and tense at first, but then Will sighed and relaxed, rubbing his temple over the sleeve of Hannibal’s shirt as he tried to find the most comfortable spot. He felt Hannibal turning a little without moving his upper body at all, probably looking at him in the semi-darkness, and then Hannibal gently rested his cheek against the crown of his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea about fishing except what my good friend Google told me, so I'm sorry, Will! xD
> 
> Once again, thanks to everyone for reading, your kudos and nice comments!♥


	5. Chapter 5

Although the nearest town had every basic thing they could need to survive, Will suggested one morning going to the next one in proximity. It was bigger and more populated, which meant it also had more varied stores. Hannibal accepted immediately, and Will guessed he needed the distraction outside as much as he did.

They had to drive for an hour, and once they arrived, Will looked alarmed through the windshield of their car to the stream of people walking in the main street. He had expected a few more people, but it seemed like their little town could fit inside this one twice over.

“Maybe we should go,” Will said, his eyes scanning the crowd.

A woman walked by the parked car and glanced at the inside. Will turned to Hannibal, hiding his face from her.

“Will,” Hannibal said, leaning a little from the passenger’s seat. “It’s all right, nobody is going to recognize us here.”

“How can you be sure?” Will asked him honestly.

Hannibal tilted his head and looked at the passersby.

“I can’t. But the world thinks we are dead even if some people are probably still looking for us. Besides, look at us,” Hannibal said, looking back to Will. “We’re merely two tourists that are going to take a walk and buy a few things.”

Will _did_ look at Hannibal, and he felt himself relaxing. The man in front of him looked nothing like the image of Hannibal Lecter everyone had. He had a light stubble, his hair wasn’t combed and slicked back, and his clothes didn’t cost more than a thousand dollars. Will also looked different himself. He had stared at his own image in the mirror that very same morning; his hair was longer and the scar on his cheek only half covered by his light beard, but it still changed the way he looked.

Will nodded, a little more calm.

“Okay. Let’s go.”

“Are you all right?” Hannibal asked before he opened the door, and Will nodded.

When they left the security of the car and went out, Will had to control himself not to look around him like a mad person. He feared he would see a familiar and unwanted face as soon as he focused on them. But as they started walking through the street, he felt Hannibal’s presence right beside him, their arms brushing when someone made one of them scoot over to avoid colliding into them. When he looked up, he merely saw unfamiliar faces, none of them paying any attention to Will nor Hannibal.

After they managed to get out of the main and most crowded street, everything was even easier. They found a clothing store and went there first to buy a few more clothes, since they only had the ones they had taken from the boat, and the ones they had bought in the nearest town, which weren’t that much varied. After that, they went into a bookstore, and Will inhaled the scent of new and old pages as they roamed through the narrow hallways. They both purchased a few books to add to the short collection Hannibal already had in the house. When they were back in a street and Will saw a tiny record store, he stopped by the window, scanning the collection of CDs, tapes and records.

“We don’t have by any chance anything to play music on, do we?”

“As a matter of fact, we do,” Hannibal said in a cheerful tone of voice, a tiny smile taking over his lips and eyes. “I left a record player in the house. It has to be in the office’s closet.”

“Why am I even slightly surprised…?” Will said, rolling his eyes to fight the smile that was creeping into his lips and going into the store.

After a few minutes of examining every record the store had, Hannibal let Will choose the music, and they went out owning a compilation of classical music. Will shrugged with only one shoulder at Hannibal’s stare as they paid, and so the other smiled and didn’t say anything.

They had already decided to call it a day and return to the car when Hannibal suddenly paused and crossed the street they were walking through. Will frowned but followed him to an old and pretty damaged phone box, the only one Will had seen since they had arrived. Hannibal inserted a few coins and pressed the numbers without hesitation.

“Hannibal…?” Will asked, unsure of what was happening.

“It won’t take but a minute, Will.”

He stayed still as Hannibal pressed the phone to his ear and half turned, and then the person at the other side of the line picked it up and Hannibal started speaking in another language, likely to be Lithuanian, as he recognized the sound of it from Hannibal and Chiyoh’s conversations on the boat.

Will turned around to give him privacy, even if he couldn’t understand the words, but didn’t go very far. Hannibal was telling the truth, and soon Will heard the sound of the receiver being hung.

“How is Chiyoh?” Will asked him as he returned to his side and they resumed their walk, not being able to conceal the slightly annoyed tone in his voice.

“She’s good. Back in Europe. She sends her regards,” Hannibal added, and Will looked at him with an eyebrow raised.

“I’m sure she didn’t send me anything. Except for a hex, maybe.”

Hannibal smiled and arched his lips upwards in a sort of shrug.

“Well, you can’t blame her. I told you once, she’s protective of me.”

“Yes, I’ve… seen enough of her protectiveness for a lifetime.”

Will smiled a little so he would know he wasn’t feeling resentment, but in that moment a blur of fur caught his attention. A Border Collie trotted towards them, and Will crouched out of instinct, dropping the bags he was carrying beside him. The dog went to his inviting hand, pressing his head to it and starting to lick his other hand, making an attempt with his face, too. Will chuckled as he scratched the dog’s fur. He looked up as the dog panted and went around in circles, and found Hannibal’s gaze on him, along with a little smile curling his lips up.

“It seems like you’ve made a new friend.”

Will opened his mouth to answer, but in that moment someone yelled, and they turned to the source of the sound at the same time. A man dressed as a shepherd was stomping towards them. Will’s smile faded as he got up, the dog still at his feet.

“ _Pelotudazo, vení para acá ahora mismo!_ ” the man shouted, gesturing with his cane and glaring at the dog.

Will frowned, having understood the insult, and the dog started going towards what Will guessed would be his owner with his tail between his legs and his ears pressed down to his head. Will took a couple of slow steps forwards without being aware of it, a dark feeling amassing inside his chest. And then, when the dog finally arrived to him, the man kicked him once in the rear leg.

“HEY!” Will yelled, a fire exploding within him.

The hit couldn’t have been too strong, but it was enough to make the dog yelp, laying down over his stomach. Now Will’s attention wasn’t focused on the dog anymore, but on the man. He was glaring at them, now, and Will felt himself clenching his fists and taking a step towards him… only to be stopped by a strong grip on his forearm. Will turned to see Hannibal putting himself beside him and nodding to the man with an unaltered expression, as if saying hello or goodbye to anyone they had walked by in the street.

“ _Turistas…_ ” the man spat as he turned around, the dog walking behind him.

As soon as the man disappeared from the street, Will yanked his arm away from Hannibal’s hold.

“What the fuck?!” he asked, frowning at him.

But instead of moving back, Hannibal took a step towards him, almost too close, their chests almost touching…

“There’s a couple behind us,” Hannibal whispered, and Will understood then. “Take a deep breath.”

Will turned subtly to face Hannibal, but looked above his shoulder to the couple Hannibal was referring. They looked like they had been strolling and had stopped right in the middle of the street due to the yelling, not sure whether to keep going forwards or turn around and go.

Will closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and when he opened them, the fire was still inside him, but he was calmer. He nodded to Hannibal, and so they picked their bags up and resumed their return to the car. As soon as they reached it, Will opened the passenger’s door and slumped on the seat without a word.

****

Will heard Hannibal’s soft footsteps approaching him before he circled the sofa and entered his visual field. Will knew he was doing it on purpose; he was very aware of how Hannibal could be silent like a cat. He had also been hearing Hannibal moving in the kitchen for the last twenty minutes, closing every drawer and cupboard, putting everything in its place before finally going to the living room.

After returning from the town, they had spent that day in a sort of quietness, both of them rotating around each other and the house, but doing nothing else. Will’s mind kept drifting back to the moment in the street, and every time he remembered, he felt the anger crawling beneath his skin like static.

After dinner, Hannibal had busied himself in the kitchen way longer than usual. And now that Will could see him, he knew why.

“Are you staying here?” Hannibal asked him, a low question that Will knew that meant something entirely different.

Will sighed and patted the cushion next to him without sitting up from his half-sprawled posture. Hannibal acquiesced and went to him, sitting slowly beside him, his gaze locked in front of him. Will’s, however, didn’t leave Hannibal’s face. His eyes observed the man’s somewhat tense features, but he let his gaze descend further. Hannibal was wearing a simple beige shirt, and Will’s eyes lingered in the spot of skin visible between the base of his throat and the first two undone buttons. Hannibal’s chest was rising and falling slowly with his breathing.

“I’m not mad at you, you know that, right?”

Hannibal finally turned to him and so Will’s eyes returned to his face. Hannibal’s features softened as he swallowed.

“I feared you were. You have a right to be angry.”

Will shook his head, and he sat up, leaning forwards and taking his almost full glass of whiskey.

“I _was_ angry, but not at you. I… was so angry I could’ve killed him right there, Hannibal,” he confessed, looking at him again. Hannibal’s upper lip twitched, but Will knew it wasn’t displeasure. Will thought he would feel different if he said that out loud, but the truth was, his pulse was more even than ever. “But we’re hiding, and still recovering; it wasn’t the moment, nor the place. So thank you,” he told him honestly.

Hannibal nodded, and Will took a sip from the glass before letting his eyes wander back across Hannibal’s face and downwards.

It wasn’t like Will had never _looked_ at him. He wasn’t blind, and he knew Hannibal was an attractive man. And it wasn’t like Hannibal had made it easy _not_ to look, dressing like a peacock walking with his feathers spread. But he had never looked at him _like that_. When he had realized about Hannibal’s feelings for him, as he had told Hannibal, his mind had started imagining every possible scenario between them. But he still hadn’t let his mind go further, locking every thought and desire away. But now, Will allowed his gaze to linger. He could let himself look at Hannibal’s form beneath his clothes, at the way his biceps showed beneath his clothes even when he was dressed in a sweater that was a little too big, or the way his fingers moved when he was cooking or even merely holding a book or sketching his drawings.

Will’s gaze returned to the spot the open shirt showed of his neck. But that time, Hannibal was turned to him, and Will felt the other’s eyes on him, and so he looked up at him. He was too aware of the tingling sensation that had started in his arms and legs and spread across his chest. And when he focused on Hannibal’s face, it turned into warm lava pooling in his stomach. He felt his heart starting to beat too fast, but that time he didn’t want to run away from that. He wanted to press into it, as he had made when he had kissed him.

“Hannibal…?”

“Yes?” Hannibal breathed out.

“I want... I mean, I’m not ready to-” he started, but stopped halfway.

“Will. We don’t have to do anything.”

Will breathed out a chuckle, and he tilted his head.

“I know, but I want to. I just… I want to _see_ you.”

“ _Anything_ you want and need, Will.”

Will shook his head a little, even though he just wanted to reach out to him.

“No. I need to know you want this too, and that you are okay with it if I’m never ready to… do anything else.”  


Hannibal shifted slightly in the sofa, their knees almost touching.

“Will… I _want_ everything and anything you give me, believe me. Even if you are never able to go any further, even if you had never been able to do… anything at all.”

Will _did_ believe him, and it was enough for him. He drained the rest of his glass of whiskey before setting it on the coffee table and standing up, everything in almost one dizzy movement. Will went straight to the stairs with determined steps, but stopped when he realized Hannibal wasn’t following him. The man was still seated in the sofa, turned around to look at him.

“Are you coming?” Will asked.

Hannibal finally reacted, getting up and slowly walking to him. Will made the way upstairs as that very first night he had asked Hannibal to sleep in his room with him, his heart pounding loudly in his ears. But when he stepped into the room, he didn’t feel hesitant or nervous about it. He _knew_ what he wanted in that moment, and he knew Hannibal wouldn’t pressure him into going any further.

When Hannibal came in, he looked at him with his hand still on the doorknob, and so Will nodded. Hannibal closed the door and approached him in the center of the room.

“You know what scares me the most…?”

Will took the step that separated them, and when he raised both hands to Hannibal’s chest, they were steady even though his heartbeat wasn’t. Hannibal didn’t answer, and Will started unbuttoning his shirt.

“It’s _how_ much I want this with you. I’ve… never felt this ever before.”

“Love doesn’t respect anything when it comes. It just consumes everything in its wake.”

Will’s hands stilled for a second, his stomach tumbling at the word Hannibal had used. It was not the same knowing it than hearing it from his lips. And even if he wasn’t _saying_ it directly to him, it took a second for Will to collect himself and focus back on Hannibal’s shirt. When he had undone all the buttons, he opened the shirt but didn’t take it off. His eyes went straight to the gunshot wound in his belly, and he did the same as he had done in the kitchen, only this time, with no clothes between his hand and Hannibal’s skin; he brushed it with his fingers. He heard Hannibal’s ragged intake of air, and Will’s heart skipped a beat as he carefully outlined the mark.

“You put yourself in front of the window,” Will said. Not exactly a question, but he still looked up, asking for an answer.

“Yes,” Hannibal breathed out.

Will gently pressed his palm over the scar tissue, enough to feel it in his skin, but not to hurt him.

“Why?”

“You know why, Will… My compassion for you-”

“Is inconvenient. I know,” Will finished for him, his eyes studying the way Hannibal’s were changing, and his breath came out uneven. “Would you rather not feel that compassion for me?”

Will dragged his hand a little across Hannibal’s skin, brushing the scar and sinking his fingertips a little in Hannibal’s side.

“In another time maybe I would’ve said yes,” he said, his voice dropping even more.

“And now?”

“I would not change anything at all. Except…”

Will looked up again in time to see Hannibal slowly raising hand. Will stood still as Hannibal pressed his thumb over his forehead, and then he dragged it along the scar Will knew was there. The one Hannibal had given him in Florence.

“This is perhaps my only regret,” he whispered, his fingertip drawing the line from the center of his forehead and descending to his temple, where it got lost into Will’s hairline and then disappeared as Hannibal lowered his hand again.

Will had wondered countless times during the three years in which they had been apart what would’ve happened if the police hadn’t interrupted him. He had thought that, in all the times they had hurt each other, that was perhaps the only one neither of them truly understood. And hearing it from Hannibal’s lips only confirmed his thoughts.

Will raised his hands then, only to begin working his own shirt. He didn’t look away from Hannibal’s face, and he saw the man’s pupils dilating as he undid button by button. Hannibal seemed intent on looking to his eyes, but his gaze eventually dropped slowly to Will’s lips, went across his neck, and rested on his chest. Will tried to control his breath, but he knew his stomach was almost heaving, Hannibal’s look making him feel the now familiar tingling sensation in his limbs.

When he finally undid all the buttons, he uncovered his left shoulder. Hannibal lifted his hand but paused before his fingers made contact and looked up at him. Will nodded once.

Hannibal brushed four fingers across the almost faded mark, dragging them backwards until he covered his shoulder with this hand. Will felt like his limbs weighed a ton under Hannibal’s touch, and the air around them was thicker with every breath he took.

“Jack,” Hannibal said, referring to the scar, and Will nodded slightly.

“Sometimes they all feel yours, though…”

Will swallowed with difficulty and grabbed the lapels of Hannibal’s shirt to slide it down his arms, breaking Hannibal’s contact with the movement. Hannibal stayed still as Will pulled the shirt out and discarded it on the floor.

He had to pause for a moment, Hannibal half naked in front of him. It wasn’t the first time he was seeing Hannibal shirtless, since he had seen him like that on the boat. But now Hannibal was conscious and recovered, his skin looked healthy, his shoulders were broad and his muscles firm.

Will made himself tear his eyes away from him and took off his own shirt. As he turned to the bed, Will reached out to take Hannibal’s hand, but he didn’t need but a slight touch on his wrist to make the man follow him.

Will climbed onto the mattress and settled in the center, Hannibal doing the same.

“Turn around,” he asked him.

Hannibal sat on his heels like Will, only with his back to him. The moonlight coming from the wide windows highlighted every muscle, and Will didn’t hesitate to press his fingers to the middle of his back but not in the center. Above the other side of the gunshot wound, the Verger mark was crooked towards his right side, the name and design almost faded now, but still present in the lower part. Will felt his nostrils flare as he slid his fingers across the smooth mark.

“I wish he were alive just so we could kill him again.”

Hannibal turned to look at him over his shoulder.

“Mason belonged to Margot. It was only fair after everything he put her through.”

“I know…”

Will drew a circle around the mark, and there he felt the raised edges.

“I promised Alana I would kill her,” Hannibal said then. Will dropped his hand and looked at him. Hannibal turned to him further, this time changing his posture over the mattress. “I gave her a choice back in Baltimore. Being blind or being brave.”

“She choose being brave,” Will said, an easy guess having in mind how he had found Alana that night.

“I reminded her that both Margot and their child belonged to me.”

Will nodded, and he pushed Hannibal on his shoulder so he would turn further. His eyes fell again over Hannibal’s broad chest, going across his collarbones, but he didn’t touch him there.

“Are you?” he asked then. “Going to kill them.”

“I have other priorities right now. The prospect of hunting them alone doesn’t seem that appealing anymore.”

“Good,” Will said, taking Hannibal’s left forearm and turning it upwards. “Because I wouldn’t take part in that.”

“I know,” Hannibal nodded.

He held the arm and brushed the thin, brown line that descended to his wrists.

“Matthew Brown,” Will said.

“Sometimes, they all feel yours…” Hannibal said, and Will’s lips stretched out in a little smile.

“I might’ve as well have held the knife with this one,” Will agreed.

The next time Hannibal touched him, he didn’t wait for Will’s permission, nor did he need it. Will gasped a little when Hannibal freed his hand from Will’s hold and pressed it to his right shoulder.

“You had an old wound here, apart from the new one,” Hannibal said, his eyes focusing on the skin there as he rubbed it gently with his thumb.

“I got shot. When I was a cop,” Will told him, even though he knew Hannibal knew the story. It was in his file, and Hannibal had probably studied that in depth when they had met each other.

That shoulder was the bearer of two wounds now, with the most recent one from Dolarhyde still aching sometimes.

Will reached out again and pressed two fingers to Hannibal’s chin. He tilted his head up without resistance, and Will saw clearly the mark he had only glimpsed before; a hook-shaped scar beneath his jaw.

“Jack,” Hannibal said, and Will felt the vibration of his voice against his finger. He released him and looked up as he climbed to press his thumb to the small scar over his cheekbone.

“This one too, right?”

Hannibal nodded, leaning a little against his palm. Will pressed it in earnest against Hannibal’s cheek, letting his fingers dive into Hannibal’s hair and stroking the mark with his thumb.

“We have quite the collection, don’t we?”

Hannibal didn’t answer, but his eyes dropped down once again. Will felt himself catching on fire again when he felt Hannibal’s fingers on his stomach, and he leaned forwards, almost collapsing against him. Will pressed his forehead against Hannibal’s shoulder as Hannibal brushed his hand against the one that was truly _his_ mark; the smile on his belly. Will held onto Hannibal’s shoulders with an arm around his neck, and suddenly they were touching so, _so_ much. It wasn’t just Hannibal’s hand on his stomach, but also the skin against skin; their chests and shoulders pressed together, Hannibal’s hair there tickling him in a strange but not at all unwelcome sensation, their cheeks also touching, a warm, living person against him.

“Will.”

He pulled back a little at hearing his name whispered, because he knew where that was headed if they went along that way. He looked at him and saw his own desire reflected in Hannibal’s darkened eyes, and so Will closed his own for a second. Hannibal’s hand disappeared from his stomach as he took a deep breath, his arm still linked around Hannibal’s neck.

“I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologize for,” Hannibal told him, and so Will looked at him again and nodded.

When he finally moved back completely he felt cold, missing the contact immediately. He looked around him, considering what to do, but in the end, Will just got out of bed to move the sheets away, and he lay down without bothering to take off the pants he was still wearing or put on a shirt. Hannibal did the same after a second, and they lay still for a few quiet moments.

Before he could think about it further, Will turned to the other and tugged Hannibal’s arm upwards as his heart pounded against his chest. Hannibal lifted his arm at Will’s request, and he lay down again with his head between Hannibal’s shoulder and chest. Finally, Will draped his arm across his stomach, careful of the wound, as Hannibal set his hand on Will’s back.

He could feel Hannibal’s heartbeat fluttering against his cheek, but soon they both relaxed a little in each other’s arms. Will inhaled deeply, Hannibal’s scent making him nuzzle his skin a little before closing his eyes and breathing out slowly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Pelotudazo, vení para acá ahora mismo!” -> "Come here right now, dumbass!"
> 
> Hope you like this chapter!! I've wanted to write a scene like this for a long time :3


	6. Chapter 6

That time, Will didn’t wake up alone in bed, as the days before. He stirred and grumbled a little, but immediately noticed that everything around him was different; there was a warm, breathing body pressed against him. Or, more accurately, Will was nestling against _him_. Will raised his head a little as he opened his eyes, and couldn’t help the bashful and sleepy smile that crept into his eyes when he saw Hannibal starting to wake up too.

Will rolled to his back, moving away from Hannibal. He was already feeling the tingling sensation in his stomach, and so he tried not to look at him for a moment.

“Good morning,” Hannibal said beside him in a raspy voice that did nothing to help him contain the smile on his lips.

Will let his eyes fall again over him, and he bit his lower lip at the image of Hannibal’s bed hair, at his half-closed eyes due to the sleep still clinging to him, and his shirtless torso. The skin he had explored the night before, the chest he had slept on. Will forced himself to look up to his face again.

“Good morning.”

Hannibal seemed to read him better than himself, as always, and he sat up, running a hand across his face and hair.

“I’ll go start making breakfast.”

Will nodded, and watched Hannibal’s back as he got up and went out of the room to give him space. When he heard Hannibal moving in the bathroom, Will allowed his lips to stretch in a wide smile. He stayed in bed for a while after hearing Hannibal go downstairs, and when he finally followed suit, he found him already finishing preparing breakfast. In the time Will had been upstairs and in the bathroom, he had prepared what looked like a banquet; omelets, toast, croissants and sliced fruit.

Will knew not everything was handmade, as Hannibal would like to, but he still observed amazed the plates of food. Hannibal was still finishing setting the fruit plate, and Will couldn’t help but stare at his hands as they moved. The hands of a surgeon that had saved many lives, the hands of the monster that had ended many more, the hands that had touched him the night before with such delicacy and care… Will had to close his eyes at the memory, desire hitting him like a wave. When he collected himself, he found Hannibal looking at him with a piece of nectarine in his hand.

“Are you all right?”

Will nodded once, but then he reconsidered it, and he sighed as he closed the distance between them with a single step, and very slowly, Will raised his hand and cupped Hannibal’s neck as he leaned in. Hannibal didn’t move at all except to part his mouth in a silent gasp right before Will joined their lips. The surge was instant, washing over Will as he moved his lips against Hannibal’s. But that time he was expecting it, and he welcomed the dive his stomach made when he slipped his tongue into Hannibal’s mouth and he felt the man’s brushing against his.

Will pulled away from the kiss and held onto Hannibal’s shoulder as he tried to breathe normally. When he was able to move back and look at Hannibal, he was expecting the look on his face, but he still felt his chest tightening; it was the same expression Hannibal had had right before Will had embraced him on the cliff. It was the look in which he could feel Hannibal’s love as if it were a physical, tangible thing he could reach out and grasp any time he wanted.

Will stepped back and sat on his stool, a little smile curling his lips upwards as his heart settled. After a couple of seconds, Hannibal finally resumed setting the fruit in the plate and presented their breakfast in front of them. Will felt Hannibal’s gaze on him as they ate in silence, and that time, he returned it.

After breakfast, Will felt like going outside. They still had the second trout he had fished, so instead he decided he would simply go for a walk, and so he told Hannibal. To his surprise, the man nodded, but didn’t get up from the sofa, where he was seated with a book in his hands.

“I think I will skip this walk. I don’t want to force the wound too much.”

“Do you need me to stay…?” Will asked, frowning and worrying Hannibal was more in pain than he thought, but the man shook his head.

“No, I’m fine, Will. Go take a walk; it’s good for our wounds. I will just miss this one.”

Hannibal smiled a little, and Will nodded. He started with the path he already knew that led to the river, but he soon took a detour, exploring for at least an hour before encountering another clearing and a new section of the same river, that part much deeper than the backwater and with running water, and he wondered if he could have a swim there when the weather was better. He doubted they would still be there in summer, but the thought of going there with Hannibal to swim left a lingering smile on his lips. He couldn’t even begin to imagine Hannibal wearing nothing but a swimsuit, and much less swimming in a river. But maybe he would. Maybe he would let Will convince him.

Will rested there for a few minutes before turning around and coming back, figuring the way following the river’s sound from afar. When he returned, he was tired and content, but as he arrived to the house, he froze. Their little car was gone, and so he went inside and found the living room completely empty.

Since he already guessed he would not have an answer, he didn’t try to call for Hannibal, and he walked to the kitchen first. Will found a note on the island counter, and he took it with hesitant fingers.

_I’ve gone to get some groceries we needed._

_I will return as soon as possible,_

_H._

Will frowned and turned the note, hoping to find something else on the back, but that was it. He was surprised Hannibal had gone without him, and the weak explanation surprised him even more.

He decided not to overthink it, and so he went to take a shower. When he went out, though, Hannibal still hadn’t returned, and he tried to entertain himself by reading. But the truth was, he spent more time looking across the wide windowpanes than at the pages. When the lunch hour was coming dangerously close, Will got up from the armchair and walked towards the kitchen, not exactly knowing what to do with the anguish that was starting to build up inside him. In that moment, he heard the car’s engine, and so he dashed towards the main door.

Hannibal went out of the car with a couple of plastic bags and an undisturbed expression. He smiled as he walked past Will and went to the kitchen, where he followed him.

“Well?” he asked as Hannibal started taking things out of the bags. Mushrooms, a spice he couldn’t see from the kitchen door, tomatoes and fruit.

“Did you enjoy your walk?” Hannibal asked him, completely ignoring his remark.

“I did. It would’ve been better if I had known where you were when I came back.”

Hannibal raised his eyes and tilted his head as if he didn’t understand Will’s irritation.

“I was-”

“Grocery shopping, I can see that,” Will said curtly, but then Hannibal’s eyes dropped and Will sighed, the annoyance dissolving quickly. “Okay, sorry. What else did you buy?”

Hannibal took two small boxes from the second bag and left them on the counter.

“Cell phones?” Will asked, approaching them and taking one in his hand.

“ _Disposable_ cell phones,” Hannibal specified, and it gave Will a little smile. “In case we need them.”

Will turned the box around and huffed out a laugh.

“Now it feels like we’re on the run,” he joked, and gave Hannibal a smirk.

Hannibal took one last thing out of the bag, and Will raised his eyebrows as he set the box on the counter and took that instead.

“I thought it might suit you. For when you go fishing.”

It was a very ordinary, dark cap. Will looked at Hannibal and couldn’t help the corner of his mouth to curve upwards. Will thought about making a joke, saying anything at all, but in the end, he just nodded.

“Thank you,” he said honestly.

In answer, Hannibal smiled in the warm, fond way in which he did sometimes when looking at him, and so Will looked down as his skin started prickling.

Hannibal’s excursion was quickly forgotten when he started preparing lunch and asked Will for his help. He accepted and acted as sous-chef as they prepared a beef stroganoff with rice.

****

The afternoon bled into the evening, and they ate the leftover beef from lunch, even if Hannibal wrinkled his nose when Will suggested it. Making the most of the food they had was, after all, the logical thing being on the run, and not even Hannibal could argue with that. They settled on the sofa after dinner, the fireplace giving the whole room an orangey color and the classical music record they had bought playing in the background. Will had poured himself a glass of whiskey, but it was sitting on the coffee table, forgotten, since Will’s right hand was occupied with the book he hadn’t managed to read that morning, and the left with the seam of Hannibal’s sweater.

It had been an almost unconscious movement at first, his arm over the headrest sliding down until his hand met Hannibal’s neck. Instead of moving his hand away and apologizing for interrupting Hannibal’s sketching of what was starting to look like a more elaborate drawing of the backwater, Will had decided on stroking the sweater, right on the edge before fabric turned into skin.

He had managed to focus again on the book for a few minutes, and Hannibal seemed to return to his drawing. But when his index finger brushed Hannibal’s skin, the book became the farthest thing in his mind. Will’s eyes kept locked on the yellowish pages, but his breath turned shallow as he allowed his fingers to climb across Hannibal’s nape. He waited for the other’s reaction, but when Hannibal didn’t move at all, Will looked up at him and found him completely still, the pencil still between his fingers but frozen over the page. Hannibal had half closed his eyes, and when Will dragged his fingertips up until he met his hair, he felt Hannibal shuddering as he let out an uneven breath through his parted lips.

Will continued to move his hand upwards, his fingers crawling through the hair and disheveling it in their path. Hannibal closed his eyes and bowed his head slightly further when he crossed from his neck to his head, and Will pressed all five fingers against his scalp.

“Your… hair,” Will managed to say, his eyes going from his own hand buried in Hannibal’s hair to his face. “It’s longer.”

He didn’t answer, and so Will pulled his hand down and repeated the movement, dragging his fingers from his nape upwards. Will pressed with his fingertips stronger when he was reaching his head again, and then Hannibal moaned.

Will’s fingers stilled half buried into his hair, and Hannibal opened his eyes, alarmed. He turned slightly to him, his breath still ragged, and Will felt the now familiar warm feeling crawling under his skin, pooling in his stomach.

Judging by his widened eyes, Hannibal was probably thinking Will’s pause was because he was startled at the noise and what it meant. But Will wasn’t scared of it. Exactly as with the kiss, he realized he wanted to go further, to explore that and not let it go… And to hear that sound again.

Will was only half aware of himself throwing aside the book still in his other hand as he shifted closer to Hannibal without moving the one in his hair. Will grabbed the sketchbook in Hannibal’s lap but didn’t move it right away.

“Can I…?”  


Hannibal nodded, and Will took the sketchbook and pencil and threw them carefully onto the coffee table. When he turned to Hannibal again, his eyes went straight to the man’s mouth. Will leaned in as he grabbed a fistful of the hair around his fingers, and closed his eyes before meeting Hannibal’s lips.

Will felt immediately the heat in his stomach spreading to his chest and limbs, and when he slipped his tongue into Hannibal’s mouth, that time he didn’t pull back at the feeling of Hannibal’s tongue. Instead, a soft sound escaped his own lips as he tilted his head further to deepen the kiss. Will felt Hannibal turning his body to him, pushing him slightly against the back of the sofa, and Will held onto Hannibal’s waist to pull him closer. But then he felt Hannibal’s hand in his thigh, and Will tensed, moving back a little.

Hannibal’s hand disappeared quickly as he leaned backwards against his part of the sofa again, and looked at him in an apologetic way. Will had very much realized how aroused Hannibal was, and there was no way of denying that he _was_ himself, so he shook his head before Hannibal started speaking.

“I’m sorry, Will, I-”

“No, it’s… okay,” Will told him, and after a second, he dragged his hand from Hannibal’s waist to his lower stomach. Hannibal’s jaw and neck tensed as his nostrils flared. Will could feel how much of his self-control it took Hannibal not to move at all, not to press into the contact or throw himself onto Will to kiss him again. “But… Let me?”

Hannibal’s eyes went to his own, widening them. Will knew Hannibal wasn’t alarmed because of what he was proposing, but because he was worried _about him_.

“Will,” Hannibal croaked, but Will shook his head.

“I _want_ this, Hannibal. But if you don’t want to do this now, or-”

“Yes.”

They looked at each other’s eyes for a moment, and Will finally looked down. Hannibal’s erection was slightly tenting his pants, and he looked up again with his heartbeat thrumming fast inside his throat. He told himself it was nothing he hadn’t seen before, but of course that thought didn’t help him to relax. Because not only it was another man; it was _Hannibal_.

Will decided to stop thinking, and he leaned in again. That time, he started kissing Hannibal slowly, lips and breaths mingling together as he allowed his hand to crawl down until he met the hem of Hannibal’s sweater. He slithered his hand underneath, and when he touched his heaving stomach, Hannibal’s breath hitched in his throat and let out a low grumble. Will allowed his fingers to explore the hairy front and the smooth skin on Hannibal’s waist as they kissed, but soon he found the sweater to be a hindrance. He moved back to pull the clothing up, and Hannibal understood. He tugged it off his head in a single movement and leaned back against the cushions as soon as he had discarded it.

Will felt his cock twitching in his pants at the sight of Hannibal waiting for him, shirtless and sprawled beside him but not demanding anything from him, not pressing. He was presenting himself to Will, waiting until he decided to continue what they were doing or to stop altogether. Will very much decided to continue.

He pressed himself against Hannibal’s side when he returned to his lips, and he allowed his hand to return to exploring Hannibal’s chest. He didn’t realize he was half straddling him until he felt Hannibal’s erection against his thigh. Hannibal hadn’t moved at all, but he moaned again against Will’s lips. Will pulled back then and observed the crease in Hannibal’s brow, the way he was trying to breathe evenly without managing at all. Will moved his leg away and instead pressed his palm against Hannibal’s erection. The reaction was immediate, Hannibal groaning and dropping his head backwards against the headrest.

Will pressed his lips against Hannibal’s bared throat, kissing and sucking the skin, feeling Hannibal’s stubble as he massaged him with his hand. Will felt how Hannibal became even harder and hotter under his hand. When Hannibal raised his head again, breathless and the longer locks of hair falling across his forehead, Will pulled slightly back and bit his own lower lip. He grabbed and tugged at the button in Hannibal’s pants. Hannibal quickly moved his hands for the first time since he had let Will do as he pleased, undoing the button and unfastening his fly. Will stayed still as he did that, but Hannibal stopped after that and waited for him to move.

Will looked from Hannibal’s dark blue underwear under his pants up to his eyes once again, licking his lips before giving him another kiss. And then, he slipped his hand inside Hannibal’s underwear. Hannibal moaned into Will’s mouth when his fingers circled him, and Will gasped himself at the sensation.

It was, once again, nothing Will had felt before. Touching himself and another man _was_ different, and so he pulled back and gave himself a second to get used to the feeling. Hannibal’s cock felt, also, different than Will’s. He allowed the underwear to slide off, and Will couldn’t help but look down. Not only they were slightly different in shape; Will observed the way the skin rolled back as he started dragging his hand down, the pre-come already leaking down the shaft.

Hannibal let out a long moan at that, and Will’s eyes went to his face again, and that time he didn’t look away as he started moving his hand up and down in an agonizingly slow pace. Will wanted to drink Hannibal’s expression in, memorize it and save it forever in a corner of his mind, and so he stared at him for what felt like a long time. But when Will changed the rhythm and Hannibal moaned again as he bucked his hips slightly upwards, Will couldn’t help but leaning in. He kissed him on the lips again, but they were both breathless and panting, and so he ended up just pressing his forehead against Hannibal’s, breathing into each other as he tightened his hold and continued the movement.

Will felt the moment in which Hannibal’s orgasm started firing up inside him; his cock throbbed in his hand, his stomach tensed and he tilted his head further to nuzzle Will’s neck. With a final tug, Hannibal came over his stomach as he let out a dragged out moan.

Will let him go, but they both stayed still, their hearts hammering as their heavy breathing filled every corner of the room. Will had been so focused on Hannibal, that when he felt how achingly hard he was himself, his stomach sank with the realization. His mind was already working all the possible scenarios of what could happen next. Hannibal’s hands, Hannibal’s skin, Hannibal’s mouth…

Will swallowed when the man finally lifted his head and looked at Will through heavy-lidded eyes. But even after what they had done, Hannibal didn’t move as he waited for Will’s permission or request. Will’s chest tightened as he leaned in to kiss Hannibal slowly, the air around them hot and heavy as Will sucked on his lower lip before pulling completely away and standing up.

He headed upstairs as fast as he could, not turning around to look at Hannibal half-unclothed and still spent after what Will had done to him. He took a change of clothes from his room and went into the shower, turning the cold water on. He tried not to think about it, but how could he, when it was the only thing in his mind. The image of Hannibal’s face, his moans and the feeling of his cock between his fingers would be forever imprinted in his mind, and even if he could, Will realized he didn’t _want_ to stop thinking about it.

When he took himself in hand, he gasped under the cold spray of shower. Will could almost feel Hannibal’s strong hands over him, one of them stroking him up and down as the other circled his waist to press him against him. Will imagined how Hannibal’s chest would feel against his back, how the erection he had had in his own hand only minutes ago would feel like pressed against the cleft of his ass… Will came with a strangled cry, pressing his forehead to his forearm, holding himself against the tiles not to topple over.

When he finished in the shower, his heart and mind had finally stilled, even if only slightly. When he went into his room, it didn’t surprise him seeing Hannibal there, already lying face up on the mattress. He had cleaned himself and changed to his the pants he had been using as pajamas. But as he lifted his head a little, Will saw there was one thing he hadn’t fixed: his disheveled hair, the longer locks pointing in all directions. Will lay down on his side of the bed, turning off the light as he did. When he turned around, Hannibal was looking at him.

“I’m fine,” he assured him before Hannibal could ask, and the other nodded.

Will then rolled over to face the window, his back to Hannibal. He waited for a couple of seconds, and when the other didn’t move at all, he reached out behind him. Will grabbed Hannibal’s wrist when he found it, and pulled him closer. Hannibal understood what he wanted immediately, and so he slid his arm under the pillow as Will circled his own waist with Hannibal’s arm. Will relaxed against Hannibal’s chest, feeling the warmth of his body surrounding him. He smiled a little right before sighing and closing his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for your comments, kudos and support♥


	7. Chapter 7

The following days turned into a week in the quiet, slow rhythm they had set around them. They kept taking walks almost every day, Hannibal being better and better, Will not feeling his shoulder aching when he strained it or chopped wood for the fireplace. Will went fishing again in Hannibal’s company, catching another couple of trout that they ate that week, Hannibal cooking them so differently that they tasted like two different kind of fish.

The next time they went grocery shopping together, they got separated for a moment and Will found himself cornered in an aisle by a woman who only spoke Spanish and seemed to work there. He tried to tell her that he couldn’t understand her, but she then gestured towards a stand in the middle of the aisle. He raised his eyebrows, finally understanding something but not knowing how to respond. In that moment Hannibal appeared beside him and put a hand on his shoulder for a second before starting speaking with the woman, and Will sighed in relief. She gave them free samples of a strange fruit that was white with black spots, and Will accepted and ate his. Hannibal told her something that sounded like he was telling her it tasted good, and asked her to give them a couple of them. She put them on a bag and, as Hannibal was taking it, she pointed a finger at Will as she said something. Hannibal smiled widely and nodded, answering and finally walking away. As they continued across the supermarket, Will waited until they were in the next aisle to turn to him.

“What did she say…?” he asked Hannibal.

“She wanted us to try the dragon fruit. Did you like it?”

“I did. But I already got that; I meant… at the end,” Will said, knowing Hannibal had understood him the first time, but had chosen to play the fool.

Hannibal’s lips stretched a little, and he stopped by the flour to examine the packages with an unhurried pace. When he finally turned around and set the all-purpose flour inside the cart, Will raised an eyebrow and Hannibal acquiesced.

“She told me she hoped my _husband_ enjoyed the fruit,” he finally said.

Will felt his face and neck getting hot, and he turned to see if there was anyone else in the aisle, but they were completely alone. He cleared his throat.

“And… what did you tell her?”

“I told her I was sure you would.”

Hannibal took the cart again and started pushing it away, leaving Will standing there as he composed himself.

That night he was still thinking about it when they moved to the living room as they had gotten used to doing every night. Will was not even pretending he was reading, and Hannibal seemed intent on finishing a drawing of Will sitting on the rock of their clearing, looking up with a blissful expression as a ray of sun came down and brightened his face.

“I was surprised you didn’t ask for our fake names to have the same last name,” Will suddenly said.

The pencil froze over the page, and Hannibal raised his gaze to him. He linked his hands over his lap as a sort of smug smile appeared in his lips.

“I thought a couple would draw more attention than…”

“Than two adult men with no obvious familial ties living together?” Will finished for him.

“Fair enough,” Hannibal admitted. “But Miss Lounds already married us for her readers. She might be looking for marriages who fit our description.”

Will could feel his heartbeat starting to flutter inside his chest, but he tried to conceal it, and so he swallowed.

“You knew about the… _murder husbands_ thing,” Will said, and he chuckled. Of _course_ he knew; of course he had found a way to be up to date with those things while he was inside the BSHCI.

“I did. Would you have liked that?” he asked then, and Will’s eyes shot up to Hannibal’s.

“Liked what?”

“Having the same last name,” Hannibal specified, and his smile widened.

Will sighed and pursed his lips, knowing Hannibal had done it on purpose, formulating the question ambiguously so he wouldn’t know exactly what he meant.

“I… no. I don’t know. Who cares, it’s just a fake name,” he responded. _It’s not like we’re actually married_ , he thought.

They didn’t speak about that again, but Will could still see Hannibal’s satisfied and fond smile the next morning, and he had to resist the urge to roll his eyes while he felt Hannibal’s eyes on him following him everywhere.

They didn’t repeat either what had happened _that_ other night between them, but the tentative touches and kisses kept happening occasionally, sometimes in the quiet moments after dinner, other times in their walks to the river or the darkness of their room. But neither of them wanted to force or hurry it, and so they remained small kisses and touches.

A week after that night, Will woke up with Hannibal’s back pressed to his chest. He stirred and groaned, and tightened his hold around Hannibal’s waist before realizing _who_ he was embracing. He felt Hannibal waking up too, but the man stayed still, and after a moment, Will finally rolled over with a smile on his lips. After a moment, Hannibal left him there to go prepare breakfast, as he usually did so Will wouldn’t feel overwhelmed by the reality of waking up beside Hannibal every morning.

When Will went into the bathroom to wash up, he noticed the way his beard was growing, a visible clear patch where the scar was. He frowned to the image in his mirror, and scratched his other cheek. Two knocks on the door startled him a little.

“Will?” Hannibal’s voice reached him from the other side, and he realized he had been in there longer than he had thought.

“Come in,” Will told him.

He saw through the mirror the door opening and Hannibal appearing behind it. Their eyes met, and Will finally turned around and leaned against the sink.

“I was worried you hadn’t come downstairs.”

Will smiled a little at his concern, and he nodded.

“Sorry, I was just…” Will pointed to the mirror with his thumb, but then he huffed and shook his head. “It’s ok, never mind.”

Will moved away from the sink and out of the bathroom. Hannibal let him walk by, but once he was in the hall, Will felt Hannibal’s fingers enclosing his wrist carefully, and so he stopped and turned around to face him. Hannibal didn’t ask him anything, but he didn’t need to. Instead, he just looked at him in the eye, and Will pursed his lips before sighing and giving in.

“It’s just… The scar on my cheek,” he explained, and Hannibal’s eyes darted to it.

“What about it?” Hannibal asked as he let Will’s wrist go. He resisted the urge to reach out himself to take the other’s hand.

“I wanted to let my beard grow, to cover it. But it’s even more obvious what way.”

Hannibal raised both hands then, and very slowly, he cupped Will’s face. He knew the man had given him time in case he wanted to pull back, as he had been doing the few times Hannibal touched him before Will initiated the contact. But Will didn’t want to pull back, not at all. Instead, he relaxed a little into Hannibal’s palms as his thumb started brushing his right cheek. Hannibal tipped his head as he did that, examining the scar while Will’s eyes didn’t leave his face even for a second.

“The wound healed nicely. It could’ve left a much bigger scar if not for Chiyoh’s stitching. I couldn’t have done it better myself.”

Will nodded a little, even if he was half paying attention to the words, more focused on Hannibal’s hands.

“I still don’t like the way it looks with my beard… But it’s fine, I’ll go back to my stubble. It will probably attract less attention that way.”

“Whatever you decide… You will look beautiful either way, Will.”

Will felt his face getting hotter at that, and he smiled a little when Hannibal’s eyes finally returned to his own. They looked at each other for what felt like a long time. In another life, Will had been unable to look that way into anybody’s eyes, to hold the eye contact for so long. In another life, that would’ve made him uncomfortable and he would’ve moved back and away from the hands still on his face and neck, mumbling an excuse. But in this life, Will found it easy and comforting, as if Hannibal’s eyes and hands were the only thing keeping him whole.

When Hannibal took half a step towards him and leaned in, Will’s eyes closed on his own as his hand searched and found Hannibal’s lower back. At first, Hannibal merely brushed Will’s lower lip with his own. The light touch made Will part his mouth in a gasp, and he leaned forwards unconsciously, chasing the other. Hannibal finally kissed him, sucking on his upper lip in such a tender, slow movement that for a second, Will didn’t reciprocate it, the now familiar, warm feeling in his stomach flooding him inside completely. Hannibal tipped his head further to prolong the kiss, and Will just pulled him closer with the hand on his back, circling his waist with both arms now to press their bodies together.

When Hannibal pulled back as slowly as he had started the kiss, it took Will a moment to open his eyes again. As he did, he let his lips stretch in a little smile, because he realized that had been the first time _Hannibal_ had kissed him. All the other times, it had always been Will who initiated it, and while Will was very grateful to Hannibal for not pressuring him, he had started feeling slightly frustrated, wishing sometimes Hannibal would be the one to kiss him. Exactly like right now.

“Thank you.”

“I didn’t do anything,” Hannibal said, but his lips also curved upwards.

Will loosened the grasp around Hannibal’s waist and looked down as he nodded.

“Yes, you did,” he said before turning around to go downstairs, chasing the familiar smell of breakfast waiting for them.

****

“Is there something on your mind?”

Will’s lips stretched out in a little smile.

“That’s some poor question, _doctor_ ,” Will said teasingly, looking up to meet Hannibal’s eyes after passing him the glass in his hand.

Hannibal took it and started drying it with the cloth. They had been doing the dishes like that for days now. Even if Hannibal had first insisted on doing it on his own, Will had finally told him it was not fair, and since they were dividing every other chore in the house, he could choose between alternating the days, or doing that together every day. Hannibal simply nodded and handed the kitchen rag over to Will that first day. The only thing they alternated now was who got to wash them and who got to dry them. Will soon found that the activity relaxed him, and that night his mind had drifted away from the task.

He had kept replaying in his mind the moment he had walked downstairs that evening after taking a shower – and finally trimming his beard into the stubble he was used to having. Hannibal had told him he would prepare a special dinner that night, and so it didn’t surprise Will the banquet he found on the table and that would last them at least for two days. What _did_ surprise him, though, was finding Hannibal standing beside it with his hands interlaced behind his back, his hair combed back except for a few locks dangling from his forehead, a satisfied smile on his lips… and completely dressed in a dark suit. Will remembered in that moment that Hannibal had made another solo trip to the town that last week. He had arrived back at the house the only time he had gone alone on a walk to find another note, but when Hannibal had returned carrying a few bags of groceries and clothes, he hadn’t given it much thought. Will looked at Hannibal up and down – a suit that wasn’t anything like the tailored suits he used to wear in Baltimore, but still nicer than anything Will had ever owned -, and he blushed a little as he pursed his lips. He had realized he very much liked Hannibal wearing casual clothes, but in that moment he had to admit to himself, he had also missed the way Hannibal looked in a suit.

Now, Hannibal’s tie had been forgotten on the back of one of the chairs along with the jacket of his suit, and he had rolled his sleeves up to do the dishes with Will. But the truth was, Will’s mind had gone from that, to drift even further.

“Would you prefer me to beat around the bush?” Hannibal asked as he dried the glass and set it over the counter.

Will chuckled and shook his head a little.

“No. I think we have already done that enough for a lifetime,” he admitted. He finished washing the last cutlery, and so he closed the tap and took the other rag to dry his hands as he leaned his lower back against the counter. “I was just… thinking how peaceful this is.”

Hannibal finished too, and he turned to gaze at him, waiting for Will to continue.

“It’s still… strange. How normal, how easy this feels,” he confessed.

“Us?” Hannibal asked, a small hint of anguish tainting his voice.

“Everything,” Will said.

“Exactly as when we killed the dragon,” Hannibal guessed.

Will remembered that he had confessed that to Hannibal. How peaceful and good he had felt after doing that. Will nodded, but kept quiet for a long moment, Hannibal completely still, waiting for him. Will finally sighed before speaking again.

“I once told you that we were both alone without each other,” he started, and he saw the slight tilt of Hannibal’s head. “I’ve _always_ felt alone, all my life… Until I met you.”

Hannibal’s breath hitched in his throat at his words, and Will had to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat.

“When you turned yourself in, I thought I could live without you, that I could go back to locking myself up and throwing the key away. But during the three years we were apart… I’ve _never_ felt more alone in all my life, Hannibal,” Will told him, and he had to contain himself not to reach out to take Hannibal’s hand in that moment. “And that night… I wasn’t really thinking; it’s not like I planned on throwing us off the cliff, but I did think two things: that it would be the last chance to run away from this side of myself… and that I didn’t want to be alone anymore.”

Hannibal finally breathed out, and Will saw him swallowing before gazing up to meet Will’s eyes, both of them a little teary.

“You don’t have to. Ever again,” Hannibal said in a hoarse voice.

“I know,” Will said.

They held the other’s gaze for a long time, and then Will chuckled as he tried to get rid of the tension in his shoulders and the tightness in his chest. He then nodded towards the living room.

“Come, I have an idea.”

Hannibal didn’t question him, and simply followed him out of the kitchen. They took two folding chairs from the office and carried them outside, along with a blanket that Will draped across both of them, a sort of bridge that connected their barely separated chairs. Having no lights at all around them, when Will looked up, he had to hold his breath for a moment. He had been seeing the stars almost every night from his room, through the wide glass of his window. But being out there, just the sky above them, was very different. When he finally could breathe again, he sighed as he smiled, and it turned into fog around his mouth.

“I used to do this a lot back in Wolf Trap when I first moved there,” he started, his eyes looking for familiar shapes in the sky. “I would let the dogs out and sit on my porch. It was one of the few moments I felt kind of… calm.”

Will shifted on the chair a bit closer to Hannibal and hugged himself under the blanket.

“Do you miss it?”

“Wolf Trap?” Will asked, and Hannibal nodded. “Not really, no… I do miss my dogs.”

Will saw Hannibal’s upper lip twitching almost imperceptibly. He didn’t mention where the dogs probably were in that moment, but they both knew. Will looked up at the sky once again.

“When you went to Italy… after getting out of the hospital, I started sitting outside my porch again, looking at the stars…” he confessed, and could almost feel Hannibal tensing a little at the mention. “I looked up at the night sky there. I saw Orion above the horizon, and Jupiter near it… And I wondered if you could see it, too. I wondered if our stars were the same, or you saw a different sky altogether…”

He didn’t answer, and so Will finally lowered his gaze. Hannibal was looking at him with an expression that was already familiar to Will, but not any less striking. He would never be able to get used to the intense love that look contained when it was aimed at him, not in a few years, not in a few lives.

“I believe some of our stars will always be the same, Will,” he finally said, his voice low and a little strained again.

Will held his gaze for a moment, but he could feel his throat closing up for the second time that night, and so he leaned towards him. He reached out beneath the blanket to interlace his hand with Hannibal’s, and leaned across the gap between the chairs to press his forehead against the other’s. Will closed his eyes and breathed out, his lips stretching out in a wide smile as he fought to contain the tears. He felt Hannibal’s fingers squeezing his hand, and Will pulled back only to put his head over Hannibal’s shoulder and nuzzle his neck a little, inhaling the familiar scent.

They stayed like that for a long time, merely looking at the sky with their hands intertwined. Even if Will would’ve liked to stay like that for much, much longer, the cold eventually started sinking to his bones. The previous days, the temperature had dropped drastically, and they even started lighting the fireplace in the morning and keeping it all day. Now, Will shivered and straightened, noticing how stiff and cold he was due to the posture.

“We should move inside,” Hannibal said, and Will nodded.

When they got the chairs and blanket inside, Will still felt cold even standing in front of the fireplace.

“Do you have any spare sweaters?” he asked Hannibal, who had returned from the kitchen with two glasses of wine. “This one is a little thin, and the others are all in the laundry basket or drying.”

“Of course,” he said, leaving both glasses on the coffee table. “First drawer in the wardrobe of… the other bedroom.”

Will nodded and walked to the stairs smiling a little at the choice of words. Will had already started thinking about what began being _his_ room, as _their_ room. But it was charming seeing Hannibal tiptoeing around it for Will’s sake.

When he entered the almost forgotten room, he went to the wardrobe and saw that, just like his own, there were actually drawers to the right and to the left. He opened the right one and realized immediately that was _not_ the sweaters one. Will blushed a little at seeing Hannibal’s underwear. It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen _more_ than his underwear now, but he still pursed his lips to contain a smile. He was closing it when something that was definitely not a pair of underpants caught his attention. He opened the drawer slightly further, and that time he didn’t blush or close it immediately, as he could’ve done in another situation. Instead, he took the blue tube from the bottom of the drawer and turned it over, inspecting it. It said ‘ _intimate_ _lube’_ on the front, and on the back, detailed instructions that Will didn’t read on how to use and not to use it. He gripped the lube for a second, feeling the cold tube on his palm, and then he left it right where he had found it before closing the drawer. He took the first sweater he saw on the left drawer, but suddenly he wasn’t feeling as cold as he had been.

He walked downstairs with his pulse throbbing evenly but loudly inside him. Hannibal was already seated on the sofa with his legs crossed and the glass of wine in his hand.

“You found it,” Hannibal told him, looking briefly to the sweater still in his hand.

Will lifted the sweater, having almost forgotten about it on his way downstairs. “Yes.”

Will left the garment on the headrest absent-mindedly and sat beside the man with a leg folded beneath him and an arm over the back of the sofa to be able to face him. Hannibal narrowed his eyes slightly so, sensing Will had something on his mind he wasn’t telling him yet. He leaned forwards to leave his glass of wine beside Will’s untouched one on the coffee table, and when he sat back again, he turned a little to him, too, and linked his hands together on his lap. Will took a deep breath and licked his own lips before gathering the courage to speak.

“The sweater wasn’t the only thing I found.”

Hannibal tilted his head with curiosity, but Will saw the quick moment in which realization changed Hannibal’s eyes.

“You opened the other drawer.”

“I did. By mistake,” Will confirmed.

Hannibal’s gaze dropped to his own hands for a second, and Will could almost feel Hannibal’s distress when he looked up at him again.

“Will, you have to know, that’s not… It was merely-”

“When did you buy it?” Will interrupted him.

“Last week. After…” he started, but Will nodded. He needn’t say anything else. “I bought that just in case you wanted to… explore this further. There is _no_ necessity to use it, Will. I can throw it away if it makes you feel uncomfortable.”

Will smiled a little then, which caught Hannibal off guard, his brow twitching with surprise.

“You don’t have to throw it away.”

He observed Hannibal’s astounded expression for a second, and then he moved towards him. Will cupped Hannibal’s neck with a hand and leaned in to brush Hannibal’s lower lip with his own. That earned him a gasp from Hannibal, and so Will finally kissed him, sliding his tongue to meet Hannibal’s even before their lips. Will moaned into the kiss as he pushed Hannibal with his body against the armrest.

Will dragged his other hand around Hannibal’s waist, feeling the heat of his body radiating through the shirt. But he soon knew he needed more; he wanted to touch skin, the same hungry need as that other night taking over him. He pulled back and sat on his heels as he tugged his sweater and t-shirt off his head. Hannibal didn’t wait for him to ask him, and he was already unbuttoning his shirt when Will turned after discarding his own clothes. When Hannibal finally threw the shirt to the floor, Will grabbed his wrist and pulled Hannibal towards him that time. The movement and the crash of their eager mouths pushed him back until he was lying on the cushions, Hannibal on top of him. Will tensed a little, suddenly feeling Hannibal’s entire body over him, and tightened the hold on his upper arm as he felt the spark inside him catching fire. Hannibal propped himself with both arms beside Will’s head and lifted his body a little, enough to create a gap between them.

“No, no…” Will told him, but he stayed still for a couple of breaths, getting used to the feeling of the other body on top of him. He then circled Hannibal’s back with both arms and pulled him closer again. When their bodies were pressed flush again, Will squirmed a little, and Hannibal groaned at feeling Will’s half hard erection. “Touch me.”

He didn’t have to ask Hannibal twice. He growled as he finally relaxed above Will. He pulled him down for a new kiss as Hannibal pressed one of his hands against his naked skin, dragging it from his side upwards across Will’s ribcage and to his back. Will bent one of his legs beside Hannibal’s side, feeling the way the man’s body moved against him, their chests pressed together as they moaned into each other’s mouths.

Will let his hands roam across Hannibal’s back, sliding them down until he met the waistband of his pants. Will bucked his hips up unconsciously, and broke the kiss to moan as he tipped his head against the cushions, the pleasure making his head spin. Hannibal pressed his lips to his jaw, and Will closed his eyes and bared his neck for him even further. Hannibal started descending across the slope of his throat, pressing a kiss against his pulse, on the hollow of his neck, over his collarbones and down to his chest. When he felt him over his breastbone, Will opened his eyes again and looked at Hannibal’s head, at the way he was pressing his lips with such care and devotion. Will couldn’t help another soft sound going out of his throat, and Hannibal looked up only to give him a little smile. Will gasped a chuckle, and then Hannibal kept going further down. Will shivered when he felt the man’s lips crossing his torso and onto his belly. Hannibal stopped over the long scar there, gripping Will’s sides with both hands and looking up a little. Will nodded against the sofa’s cushions, and so Hannibal returned to his skin. He first nuzzled the beginning of the scar, brushing it with his nose and lips. Will gasped at the feeling, and when Hannibal very slowly slid his tongue out and pressed it against the ridge of the mark, he let out a groan as he fought not to buck his hips upwards against Hannibal. He outlined the mark with his tongue, and then pressed a suckling kiss to the opposite end of where he had started.

Will felt like his skin was on fire, but he wouldn’t change that feeling for anything else in the world. Instead of putting it out, he just wanted more, more, more of that fire. He wanted the flame to wrap him and Hannibal completely, and if he had to burn, Will would burn with him.

Hannibal kept going down after that, going around his navel and pressing a final kiss right over the waistband of his pants. He paused then, and Will grumbled as Hannibal lifted his head again for their gazes to meet.

“Don’t- don’t stop. _Hannibal_.”

“Can I-” Hannibal started, but suddenly stopped and swallowed, as if he couldn’t even say it out loud.

“Yes. I want… your mouth.”

Hannibal stayed very still for a few very long breaths, and then he straightened and sat on his heels between Will’s legs. Hannibal put his hand on Will’s knee, and he felt how hot the man’s palm was through the fabric. Hannibal slid the hand slowly across the outside of Will’s thigh, and when he reached the waistband, he paused again.

“Will… are you sure?”

“Hannibal,” Will grunted, and he nodded quickly. “I want this… I _want_ you.”

That time, the groan came from Hannibal’s throat, the sound making Will’s cock twitch inside his underwear. Will undid his own fly and button, and Hannibal helped him when he started tugging them off, discarding both the pants and underwear carelessly behind them.

When he turned to him, Will blushed even more than he already was. He was naked, _really_ naked, with Hannibal between his legs. Hannibal kept his gaze fixed on Will’s eyes, and so he bit his lower lip and smiled at his effort. Will sat up and pulled Hannibal towards him again to kiss him. Both of Will’s bent legs were framing Hannibal’s body, and the other’s hands surrounded him and pressed him even closer. Will gasped when they pulled back, feeling his cock brushing against the other’s stomach. Hannibal then pushed him backwards slowly and carefully, setting Will onto the cushions again and kissing him unhurriedly, making Will forget easily that he was naked for the first time on his own accord in front of him, that he was about to do something he had never considered until Hannibal… Will lost himself in the way his tongue curled around his own, in the way Hannibal’s lips moved against his.

When Hannibal pulled back, Will realized he was surrounding him completely, his arms still around his back and their bodies impossibly close. Hannibal looked at him in the eye for a few more heartbeats, and then he disentangled his arms from around Will and crawled downwards over his body. Will didn’t look away from him as Hannibal settled between his legs and took Will’s left one to bend it again, his fingers caressing him slowly and then leaning down to press a soft kiss into the inside of his thighs that made him tremble and grip the fabric of the sofa with both hands. He didn’t look away either when Hannibal draped Will’s leg over his own shoulder, grabbing Will’s hip with a hand, a strong hold that anchored him to the sofa underneath him. Hannibal pressed the other hand to Will’s stomach, and only then did he realize that he had been tense. Will relaxed a little and nodded once again to Hannibal. And so, the man’s hand finally traveled downwards.

When Hannibal’s fingers wrapped around his cock, Will _did_ have to look away, closing his eyes and opening his mouth in a strangled gasp. Will reached out to hold onto Hannibal’s arm, and he looked at him again in time to see and feel Hannibal pressing his lips to his erection. Will bucked his hips a little at that, but forced himself to stay completely still when Hannibal slid his tongue out and licked across his underside. The heat of the man’s tongue and breath against his cock would’ve probably been enough to make him come eventually. But then Hannibal wrapped his lips around the already leaking head, closing his eyes as he did and taking him into his mouth at a painstakingly slow pace, and so Will felt like he was going to go insane right there. He groaned, feeling like he was afloat, the heady feeling an impossible thing. Hannibal finally stopped moving down, and Will felt him pressing his tongue against the underside. Will’s hand moved on his own from Hannibal’s arm to his hair.

“God, Hannibal…”

The man moaned in answer, and then he sucked in earnest as he went upwards. Will let his eyes roll into his skull and closed them as he arched against the cushions. Hannibal then started bobbing his head, still in a slow pace that Will knew, in the only corner of his mind that was still able to think, was for his sake. Will was now panting and moaning with every breath he took, Hannibal’s wet and hot mouth making him squirm with every single movement, and his hand holding him but not forcing him to remain still.

Will opened his eyes and looked at Hannibal, and yet another wave of fire flooded him completely; Hannibal’s head was bobbing between his legs, his hair now disarrayed and a few ashen locks hanging across his forehead, his back flexed and rippling with every move. Will felt the orgasm coiling inside him and he tightened the hold on Hannibal’s hair. Hannibal hollowed out his cheeks and moaned again around him, which was more than enough to send him over the edge. Will cried out and bucked his hips up as he felt the fire rolling inside him. Hannibal sank his fingers into his hip, swallowing his release, and kept sucking through Will’s orgasm. When he pulled back, he pressed his tongue from his shaft up to his head before looking up at him.

Will was breathless and felt boneless, his hand slipping from Hannibal’s head when he took Will’s leg from his shoulder and set it on the sofa to crawl over him. Will was still feeling the ripples of the orgasm inside him when Hannibal bent down and nuzzled his neck. Will embraced him and suddenly chuckled, his body trembling beneath Hannibal’s. The other moved back to look at him, and Will laughed blissfully at seeing the adoration in Hannibal’s face.

“Will…” he said, his voice hoarse.

But Will didn’t let him speak further, because he grabbed him by the nape and dragged him down for a kiss.

When Will pulled back, Hannibal smiled at him and nuzzled Will’s jaw, rubbing his nose across his stubble. Hannibal shifted then on top of him, and Will felt two things: the fabric of Hannibal’s pants against his legs, since he was still half dressed, and the man’s erection against his thigh.

Will squirmed against him and Hannibal groaned, dropping his head against Will’s shoulder. Will slipped his hand between their bodies, dragging it down until he reached the waistband of Hannibal’s pants.

“No,” Hannibal said then, grabbing Will’s wrist and pulling it back up as he lifted his head and tried to even his breath.

“No?” he asked, frowning.

“This… was about you, Will. _For_ you,” Hannibal explained, and Will sighed. He would’ve complained if he had any strength to do so, but he felt his chest tightening.

Hannibal took Will’s hand to his mouth and pressed a kiss to his palm. When he looked at him through his eyelashes, Will smiled widely.

They went upstairs after lingering a few minutes in the living room. Will lay down on the bed with a sigh, and immediately felt the mattress dipping under Hannibal’s weight, so Will spread his arm out. Hannibal lay down with his head on Will’s shoulder and his arm draped across his chest, setting his hand on his opposite shoulder in an embrace, and caressing the scar Jack had left on him years ago.

Will turned a little and inhaled Hannibal’s hair, his shampoo and aftershave, and underneath that, his natural scent. A tired but wide smile didn’t leave his lips while he fell asleep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I completely forgot to say before, I vaguely inspired the place Will and Hannibal hide [in this amazing art](http://nsfwingrotten.tumblr.com/post/148500340323/hidden-place) by camilleflyingrotten ♥. I just couldn't stop picturing Will and Hannibal sleeping (and other things) in a place with wide windows through which they could see the mountains<33


	8. Chapter 8

Will woke up with a shiver. He curled up over himself as he opened his eyes, and he understood why he was cold; he was only dressed in his pair of underwear, the sheets were rumpled at the foot of the bed, and Hannibal’s body wasn’t on top of his, as it had been when he had fallen asleep. Will turned around and there he was, half facing down against the mattress, his arm under the pillow and his head buried in it. He guessed that some point, Will must’ve rolled over and left Hannibal lying there.

Will moved closer to Hannibal, careful of not waking him up, and then he lifted Hannibal’s right arm and draped it around his own body. Despite his careful movements, Hannibal stirred and moved towards him, tightening the hold around Will’s middle and nuzzling his chest as he groaned a little. Will smiled widely as he held Hannibal against him. The warmth of his body made him feel immediately better, but he shivered once again at the contrast between the man’s heat and the coldness of his own skin. Hannibal lifted his head at that, his eyelids only slightly parted and his brow furrowed. Will had to purse his lips not to smile like a fool at the image.

“I’m cold,” he explained.

Hannibal sat up, and Will missed the heat instantly. But Hannibal merely took the sheet from their feet and pulled it up until it covered them up to the waist. Then, he lay down on his side, and he didn’t hesitate to press himself against Will’s body again. Will circled Hannibal’s back to pull him even closer, and Hannibal did the same with both arms, only he kept his hold loose in case Will wanted to pull back. But Will wasn’t planning on moving away. He nuzzled Hannibal’s neck and moved his feet until he met the other’s, stroking one of them with the instep. He felt Hannibal’s soft gasp even at that small gesture, and Will smiled once again.

Hannibal’s fingers found their way to Will’s hair, and he started caressing it in slow, long movements.

“Your hair is getting long…”

“Longer than I’ve had it in years,” Will said against Hannibal’s neck. He didn’t say when it had been the last time he had had it that long, but they both knew.

“I could cut your hair, if you want,” Hannibal suggested, and Will chuckled a little without pulling back. “I like it this way, but… You’re much more handsome with your hair a little shorter.”

Will smiled again, and he nodded against him.

“All right. Later.”

They lay there for a long moment, holding each other, and Will couldn’t help but remember the night before. He buried his face in the crook of Hannibal’s shoulder even if he couldn’t see him anyway. But he felt the heat amassing in his lower stomach at the memory of Hannibal’s mouth on him, of how good it had felt, and how much he wanted to feel it again. And maybe to try more and more… he bit his lower lip as he tensed, trying not to think about that in that moment, being pressed so close to him. Hannibal’s arms around him loosened immediately, sensing the change in him.

“Do you… want me to go prepare breakfast?” Hannibal asked then.

Will smiled again, because he knew that the real question was: did Will need Hannibal to leave him alone as to not overwhelm him, as he had done all those mornings before…?

Will pulled back to meet his eyes, and he shook his head slowly. Hannibal’s still sleepy eyes shone as his lips stretched in a little smile, and so Will leaned in to kiss him. The first touch was a lazy brush of lips against lips, but then Will sank the fingers he had on Hannibal’s back a little into his skin, and he tilted his head to suck on his lower lip. Hannibal’s hand in his hair cradled his head as they kissed, and his other hand, which had been resting between his shoulder blades, started sliding downwards. The delicate touch made Will groan into Hannibal’s lips, and his hand stilled immediately. Will pushed Hannibal against the mattress as he straightened to change their positions, him being now half on top of Hannibal. Will kissed him again, that time licking Hannibal’s lips before meeting the other’s tongue. Will reached back to take Hannibal’s hand on his back and guided it down, dragging it across his own skin until he met his underwear. He wanted Hannibal to know it was okay, that he wanted him to touch him, and so he didn’t stop at the waistband, and he let the sheet slide down his thigh as he set Hannibal’s hand over his buttock, still covered by his boxers. When Hannibal sank his fingers carefully into the meat of his ass, Will had to break the kiss with a gasp as his entire body woke completely up.

Instead of moving back, Will stayed still for a moment, breathing heavily against each other, their lips hovering over the other. When Will pulled himself together, he smiled again and kissed him one last time before moving backwards unwillingly, Hannibal letting him go from his arms without resistance. Will got up, getting out of bed before Hannibal for the first time. When he was at the door, though, he turned and looked at Hannibal propped on his elbow over the mattress, his hair slightly disheveled and his lips red because of the kiss. Will nodded towards the bathroom.

“You owe me a haircut after breakfast,” he reminded him, and Hannibal’s lips arched upwards.

“Of course.”  


He went out and to the bathroom with a smile on his lips and something in his chest that made breathing a little difficult.

After breakfast, Hannibal fulfilled his promise, and they went upstairs and to the bathroom. Will sat on a little chair in front of the sink and mirror with a towel around his shoulders and his hair dripping water from the longest locks. Hannibal started by making him bend his head down, and he stayed still as he felt the scissors and comb going across his nape. When he moved to the sides and front, Will was able to look at Hannibal in the mirror; the focused expression, the lips slightly pursed as he closed the scissors over a new lock of hair with the precision of a surgeon… When his eyes darted from Will’s head to the mirror, their eyes meeting, Hannibal’s expression smoothened immediately, realizing he had been tense as he was concentrated. Hannibal then ran his hand through Will’s hair.

“What do you think?” he asked, his forefinger and thumb lingering in a curl behind his ear.

Will realized he had finished, and he looked at himself in the mirror. He had a few curls hanging from his forehead; not in the wild way he had had them the last days, but in the way he usually had had them. He raised a hand and scratched at his nape, feeling the short hair there.

“It’s perfect,” he told Hannibal, turning in the chair to look up directly at him.

Hannibal smiled and nodded, pleased with his answer. The familiarity of the moment, even if they had never done that before, clung to Will as they cleaned and returned everything to its place.

They decided to make another trip to the farthest town that morning. When they arrived and parked the car, Will felt much better than he had that first time. He already knew what to expect, and it was a weekday, so there were fewer people. They returned to the small bookshop, where Will acquired a couple of secondhand old books and a poetry one. Then they went to the record store, where he showed Hannibal a record of Elvis and another of Johnny Cash and told him to choose. To his surprise, Hannibal took both of them and went straight to the cashier. When they went out of the store and Will looked at Hannibal with an eyebrow raised, the man just tilted his head up.

“I don’t like only classical music, Will.”

“If you say so…” he teased, and Hannibal pursed his lips a little, so Will turned around and walked away to hide the small smile that fluttered on his lips.

They continued going through the streets, and soon Will noticed that Hannibal wasn’t wandering; he seemed to have a very specific destination in mind. When they walked into a square full of stands and people, Will understood why: it was a market. He saw Hannibal’s eyes gleaming at seeing all the fresh things he could buy to cook. Hannibal walked straight to one of the aisles among the stands, but they hadn’t walked too much inside it when something made them stop.

“ _¡Señor Mark_!”

They both turned around to the voice owner calling Hannibal’s fake name; it was a small, old lady that circled the counter of a stand and gestured for him to approach. When they did, she told him something in Spanish, and Hannibal chuckled as he nodded. In that moment, the woman seemed to notice Will, and Hannibal put a hand briefly on his shoulder as he introduced him, Will catching his own fake name. The woman smiled widely, and Will shook her hand awkwardly when she offered it to him. Will wondered _how_ Hannibal had introduced him. A friend? His _husband_ , as that other woman had assumed…?

Hannibal and the woman kept talking as she came back to her counter and put a small box full of strawberries on top of it. Will’s mouth watered as soon as he saw them; they were the reddest and biggest strawberries he had ever seen, and he could smell them from where he stood.

He kept observing the exchange as Hannibal thanked her and paid her, and took the box with him. After saying their goodbyes – Will merely nodded as he lifted his hand to the woman -, they walked away from the stand and Will stopped when they had gotten far enough.

“So… you’ve been coming here in your little excursions?” he asked him, and Hannibal held his gaze with an innocent expression painted over his face, but no way of denying it. “I thought you were going to the nearest town.”

“The other town didn’t have everything I needed.”

Will nodded, even though he was annoyed at the poor explanation. Hannibal turned and pointed his free hand to the other side of the market, an invitation to continue walking. Will sighed and finally gave in.

The small, annoying voice in his head that told him Hannibal wasn’t telling him everything kept bothering him all the way through the market. He didn’t understand what motive Hannibal could have to not tell him he was going to go both times, and to not tell him he was coming to this town. But after leaving the market, he managed to forget about it in order to enjoy their walk.

They ate lunch in a little restaurant, Will repressing a laugh when Hannibal snarled as he opened his beefsteak and saw that they had overdone the meat.

When they finished and decided it was time to go back, they wandered through the streets with no hurry at all. When they had walked for a few minutes without seeing anyone else, Will looked behind them and in front of them, making sure there was nobody there. And then, he reached out between them and took Hannibal’s hand in his. Hannibal immediately stopped walking and looked at him with surprise. Will interlaced their fingers together, squeezing Hannibal’s as he rubbed his thumb over the back of his hand.

“Is this okay? I don’t want to draw attention, but…” Will said, though he didn’t finish that thought.

Hannibal looked down to their joined hands, and the corner of his lips curved slightly upwards.

“It’s… perfectly all right, Will.”

Hannibal looked up at him, and Will felt the need to lean in and kiss him right there, right then. But that would _definitely_ draw attention, and so it was his turn to look down as they resumed their walk. It was strange, _really_ strange walking with Hannibal’s hand interlaced with his own there, out in the open. He felt even more vulnerable than he usually did, but it wasn’t at all an unwelcome sensation. He was walking in the street with Hannibal beside him, with his palm pressed against the other’s, and their shoulders brushing with their steps. He remembered when they had started working together all those years ago. Will had always felt so much better when Hannibal had gone with them to the crime scenes, when he had been there to help him stay whole, even if in that moment he had been lying to him…

But that calm didn’t last too long, because when they walked into the main street, Will had to loosen his hold, and Hannibal let him go. They didn’t move away from the other, though, enjoying the closeness. But because of that, when Will saw something out of the corner of his eye and stopped in front of a news-stand, Hannibal bumped into his shoulder.

“Will?” he asked him, placing a hesitant hand on the lower of his back.

Will didn’t answer. Instead, he took a step towards the newspapers; most of them were in Spanish, except a couple of them that seemed imported. And one of them, the one that had caught his eye, read in big, black letters ‘ _Hannibal the Cannibal: is the Monster really dead?_ ’

Will felt his stomach churning as he turned slightly to confirm that Hannibal was reading the same thing as him. And judging by Hannibal’s sudden stone-like expression, he very much was. Hannibal composed himself quickly, and he touched Will’s forearm briefly to make him follow him. They continued their return to the car in an unhurried pace, but they weren’t ambling anymore, their steps measured and determined. As soon as they arrived to the car, Will got into the driver’s seat, started the car and drove out of the town as fast as the speed limit allowed them to.

They didn’t speak during the drive, not even gazing at each other as the woods grew thicker and the path went up and deeper into the mountain. When they arrived, they started unloading everything they had bought in the town. When Will put the box of strawberries into the fridge, he walked to the kitchen island and stood there, Hannibal slowly taking the bottles of wine they had bought out of the bag.

“I think we should consider moving onto the next place,” Will finally said, voicing what they both were thinking.

Hannibal carefully placed the two bottles inside the fridge, and then walked to the island and set both hands on the counter, right across from Will.

“Maybe we should,” Hannibal agreed, but Will sensed the reluctant tone in his voice. Just like Will, it seemed like he didn’t want to leave this house, that had turned into a sort of shelter for both of them.

“So… what’s the next step?”

Hannibal tilted his head slightly, and Will then knew what his answer was going to be before he spoke.

“There’s no next step, Will. This… was the only step.”

Will lower lip twitched at his words, and he felt once again his chest tightening. Because _this_ didn’t mean this house. _This_ meant both of them being anywhere at all. Will reached out across the counter to put his hand over Hannibal’s, and he squeezed a little.

“We’ll figure it out, then. Together.”

Hannibal turned his hand beneath Will’s to press their palms together, and he nodded.

“Together.”

That night, they lay on the mattress. Will was facing the ceiling, while Hannibal was on his side to face him, but had his eyes closed. Hannibal’s hand was on Will’s stomach, fingers splayed to cover the scar there while Will’s fingers traced his knuckles.

“We could go to Europe.”

Will’s voice broke the silence, but not the lethargic calm that had settled between them after dinner. Hannibal’s head moved over the pillow, opening his eyes.

“Not to Italy, though,” Will added. “I’m sure Jack will go look for us there, sooner or later.”

“It’s the logical place to look for us, after all,” Hannibal said, his voice low.

Will closed his eyes, feeling Hannibal’s gaze on him like a blanket surrounding him. He felt his skin alive, prickling. He drew a new pattern in the back of Hannibal’s hand with his forefinger.

“What about France?”

Hannibal didn’t answer, and Will finally opened his eyes and turned to him. Under the moonlight, he saw his Adam’s apple bobbing in this throat as he swallowed.

“That… was supposed to be our first destination.”

He needn’t say anything else, because Will understood immediately. He felt a lump in his throat even though Hannibal didn’t look hurt, and so he cleared his throat.

“We were going to stay there before going to Florence,” Will confirmed.

“Yes.”

Will bit his lower lip, and for a second, he allowed himself do what he hadn’t years before, after everything that had happened; he let his mind wander on the possibility that their life could’ve been if things hadn’t gone so wrong. If he had done what his heart asked him to, but his mind prevented him to. But as his mind painted an image of Hannibal, Abigail and him sitting around a table, eating breakfast with the streets of Paris visible from the windows, he wondered something else.

“You told me you had thought I would never reciprocate these… feelings,” Will said, and he saw Hannibal’s brow twitching almost imperceptibly. “What kind of life did you imagine us having? You, me… and Abigail.”

Will waited as Hannibal seemed to consider it, but he knew he was just thinking about how to say it.

“I imagined us going away, and maybe living together, at least at first. I didn’t know if you would feel comfortable with the implication of the two of us and Abigail living together for a prolonged time.”

“That we would be a family,” Will said, his voice breaking only slightly.

“Yes. But I did imagine us together. You would take Abigail fishing, I would keep teaching her everything I could…”

Will felt a tear rolling down his cheek and he breathed out to try to ease the lump in his throat. Hannibal moved his hand from Will’s stomach to his face, where he caught the tear with his thumb, leaning closer with the movement.

Will looked up at him for a moment before cupping his neck and pulling him down for a kiss. The gentle touch of Hannibal’s lips over his had an immediate soothing effect, causing him to shed a last tear that got lost in his hairline as he circled Hannibal’s back with his other hand and pressed their chests together.

When they pulled back, Hannibal’s hand found its way back to his stomach, and Will interlaced their fingers together. He then turned around to press his back to the other’s chest, cradled in his arms. Hannibal nuzzled Will’s neck and pressed a last kiss to the sensitive skin behind his ear before lying down again with Will completely pressed against him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An early update this week because I will be publishing another fic on Friday... ;)  
> But since next week is #[EatTheRare](http://hannibalcreative.tumblr.com/post/149977859994/hannibalcreative-the-hannibal-fandom-is-not), I'm not sure whether I'll be able to update this fic then. I'll see ^^


	9. Chapter 9

“I think I’ll skip today’s walk, too.”

Will stopped drying the breakfast mug only for a second. When he resumed the task, he cleared his throat, trying to keep his tone flat. He had been waiting for that moment, so now he tried to appear unaltered.

“Does the wound still bother you?” he asked, even if he knew the answer.

“No, don’t worry. I’m just a little tired from yesterday’s trip to the city.”

“Alright. I’ll go by myself, then.”

Hannibal nodded once as Will set the mug beside the other dried dishes. He knew that Hannibal was lying to him, and he felt a ball of anger amassing in his stomach. Still, he decided to play along.

They finished doing the dishes and Will changed his pajama pants to something more appropriate for his daily walks. When he said goodbye to Hannibal, he was seated in the living room, with his sketchbook already on his lap. This time, though, Will only walked into the woods far enough for him to stop being visible from the house. Then, he walked in a circle to return, and crouched at the border of the woods. From his position, he could see the main entrance and the car parked in the side, but he wasn’t too in front of the house as to be easily seen. He stayed completely still behind a bush until his thighs and calves started to burn and he had to kneel. But just when he was considering that maybe he was mistaken in his theory, the front door opened. Hannibal was dressed in slacks and a sweater, and he went straight to the car. Will observed from his hiding place as he started it, turned it around, and then drove away.

He came out from behind the bush when the dust from the car had settled back on the ground, and Will looked at the dirt road for a few seconds, as if Hannibal might come back right that second. But of course, he didn’t.

Will came into to the house and found a similar note to the two previous times. He read the vague excuse twice, and then crumpled the paper and threw it back on the counter. He took then the disposable cell phone Hannibal had bought for him. He considered calling him, but in the end discarded the idea and went to the living room, where he sat in one of the armchairs, not knowing exactly what to do.

Hannibal didn’t come back for lunch, nor in the afternoon. During that day Will tried in vain to distract himself. But his mind kept producing all kinds of explanations for Hannibal’s behavior, each worse than the previous one. At first, he tried to come up with something that explained why Hannibal would have to lie to him three times to go on solo trips to the town. Was he overwhelmed; did he need to be alone? But Will knew it wasn’t that, not at all.

Will didn’t want to think about the only possible explanation he found. But as the day went by and Hannibal didn’t come back, the ball of anger in his stomach turned into an oppressive concern, and when the sun started to set, both feelings mixed up inside him as he finally gave in and poured himself a generous glass of wine. He drank half of it in two big gulps, and when he set the glass on the table, he finally heard the tires of the car against the dirt, and the headlights lit up the room momentarily across the wide panes of glass. Will waited slumped on the armchair until Hannibal walked through the door. Will smiled wryly when he looked at his hands; he hadn’t even bothered to buy any groceries to maintain his deceit. The sweater Will had seen him going with was the only thing he was carrying, now dressed only with a shirt.

“Will,” he said as he turned on the living room’s lights. Will blinked as his eyes adjusted to the excess of light, the little lamp having been his only source of light all evening. “I’m sorry it took me so long. We need to talk.”

Hannibal went to the sofa and sat across from Will with the coffee table between them, even though he seemed a little restless. Will tilted his head slowly and sank a nail into the fabric of the chair’s armrest. Hannibal seemed to be waiting for him to say something, and Will made him wait a long moment before he finally spoke.

“Tell me you haven’t been killing people,” he simply said.

Hannibal’s brow twitched, and he straightened his back. So he was going to play the offended.

“Will… no. I haven’t-”

Will didn’t let him finish, and he stood up, his eyes already welling up. Hannibal imitated him, probably unconsciously, and so Will didn’t even have to circle the table to approach him.

“Tell me…” he started saying when he was close enough to smell him, close enough to breathe the same air, “you haven’t been killing people without m- without telling me.”

Hannibal’s unaltered expression fell then like a wall of bricks as he sighed. Will felt his heart pounding inside his chest.

“You’ve been lying to me. I knew something was up, but I… I thought we were past this,” Will hissed, his brow furrowed to try to keep his tears unshed.

“We _are_ past that, Will. If you let me explain…”

“Alright,” he said, curtly. He shrugged as a tear rolled down his cheek despite his efforts. “ _Explain_.”

Hannibal swallowed and parted his lips in an intake of air. He simply looked down as he took something from his pocket, and then he took Will’s hand. He allowed him to turn his hand around and press something to his palm. When he released him, Will looked at the small, creased piece of paper, and he frowned. He opened it and, after reading it three times, he looked up at Hannibal.

“An address. Is this supposed to tell me anything?”

“The _shepherd’s_ address,” Hannibal explained.

Will felt the realization hitting him like a cement wave. He suddenly understood what Hannibal had been doing, what this paper was… He felt like crying and laughing like a mad person.

“What…?” Will tried to ask, but he fell silent as Hannibal struggled to find the right words, too.

“The man we encountered in the town. The one who hit his dog.”

“I- I know who you’re talking about,” Will said, but all the anger was gone from his voice.

Hannibal nodded, and he looked down for a moment.

“I went to the mountains near the town a couple of times until I found him with his flock of sheep. I finally followed him to his house today.”

Hannibal then lifted both hands and, after a moment of hesitation, in case he wanted to pull back, he cupped Will’s face. Will felt the warm, soft touch and had to fight the urge to close his eyes and give into the contact.

“I know we haven’t exactly discussed this. But that’s yours… if you want it.”

Will felt a new tear rolling down his cheek, but that one fell for a very different reason than the first one. He moved forwards and grabbed a fistful of Hannibal’s shirt as he met his lips in a hard, urgent kiss. Will pushed him backwards until Hannibal hit something and Will was able to press into him properly, his entire body caging him to the wall as his lips devoured and possessed him.

When he pulled back breathless, he looked at Hannibal’s eyes, at the burning, fierce expression in his eyes, and he guessed his own would look exactly the same.

“ _Don’t_ lie to me like this again. Ever,” Will told him, tightening the grip on his shirt.

“I wanted to surprise you,” Hannibal said, the most innocent and honest expression on his face.

Will laughed then, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Didn’t you learn anything from the last time you tried to _surprise_ me…?” Will asked, and Hannibal tilted his head in a sort of shrug. “Well, you did surprise me. I thought… I didn’t know why you were lying to me, I even thought that you needed to be away from me.”

“ _Will_ ,” Hannibal growled, and Will nodded.

“I know… but don’t ever do that again.”

Will kissed him again, that time starting much slower, his grip finally loosening, pressing his palm flat on his chest instead. Will felt Hannibal’s hands on his sides, and so he lifted his own to circle Hannibal’s neck. Will pushed into him again, and groaned when he felt their hardening cocks pressed together. All the anger and concern, everything he had felt that day, disappeared completely as his body set alight. He felt the now familiar hunger taking over him, and he welcomed it. Will buried a hand into Hannibal’s hair and ground his hips against the other's. Hannibal’s hands tightened over his back as they both broke the kiss with a moan.

Will pulled back then before an astounded Hannibal, and he smoothed out the piece of paper Hannibal had given him, which he had crumpled even more. He looked at Hannibal in the eye, and slowly he put the paper inside his pocket, knowing Hannibal would get the message loud and clear. Hannibal’s eyes darted from the hand in which he had had it, to his eyes. Will swallowed, his heart racing inside his chest, but knowing very well what he wanted to say when he parted his lips again.

“Upstairs.”

When Hannibal propelled himself away from the wall and towards Will, he was expecting him. And yet, when their mouths met again, the surge he felt inside him left him breathless for a moment. When he recovered, he turned both of them around and pushed Hannibal again, both with the kiss and his hands, away from the living room. They made it up the stairs pausing the kisses only enough to climb a few steps. Will ended up taking Hannibal’s wrist and dragging him the rest of the way to their room in quick steps.

When they entered, it took Will by surprise when Hannibal turned them over to push _him_ that time against the wall beside the door. Will pressed himself against it as he breathed heavily, and Hannibal stood in front of him, their bodies so, _so_ impossibly close, and yet not touching. Hannibal placed both hands beside Will’s head, but not trapping him in case he wanted to slip out. Hannibal bowed his head and leaned closer, Will feeling his breath over his mouth, their lips almost brushing against each other, but not yet. Will gasped as his eyes closed, knowing what Hannibal was doing. Still, after everything, he was asking for his permission, waiting for Will to act first.

Will let out a soft groan and tilted his head slightly up, enough to close the distance between them again. He sucked on Hannibal’s lower lip in a long, slow kiss, and when their tongues met again, he circled Hannibal’s back with both hands and pressed their bodies together. Will moaned as Hannibal abandoned his lips to descend across his jaw, pressing kisses alongside his throat. The hands he had had planted on the wall finally gave out and he lowered them; Will felt one of them on his hip, and the other dared to slide underneath his t-shirt, sending a shiver across Will’s spine.

When Will tugged from Hannibal’s shirt, they pulled back and he was able to take the garment over his head. Hannibal did the same with Will’s, and once he discarded the shirt, he returned to press kisses to his neck and shoulders. Will arched his back from the wall, Hannibal’s hands dragging across his ribcage and waist. Will then grabbed the belt in Hannibal’s pants. He tugged it blindly as Hannibal kept mouthing and sucking his skin, and when he finally managed to undo that and the button, Hannibal paused as Will pushed the pants down. They fell and pooled around his ankles, where Hannibal stepped out of them and toed them away. Will then started working on his own pants, but stopped when he saw Hannibal’s hungry eyes observing him. Will let his hands go lax at his sides, an open invitation, but instead of reaching out from where he was, Hannibal surprised Will by sinking to his knees.

Hannibal unbuttoned them and slid his pants down slowly, Will biting his lower lip when he felt the fabric brushing his erection, caged inside his boxers. After he pulled them completely off, Will took his underwear too, and he slid them down, Hannibal helping him discard the last garment from his thighs down. When he faced him again, Hannibal looked up at him, and Will’s erection throbbed, curled against his stomach. Hannibal lifted both hands again and set one of them in Will’s waist, thumbing his hip and his fingers stretching to sink into his buttock. His other hand slid across his thigh, and Will gasped, containing himself not to buck his hips forwards. Hannibal finally took his erection in hand, and Will groaned, a bead of precome dripping from the head before Hannibal wrapped his lips around it. He lapped the slit and then pulled back to press his tongue in long, slow stripes from his grip back to the head.

Hannibal’s mouth finally took him in his mouth, and he started bobbing his head in the same slow, measured movements as he had done two days before. Will let his hand fall to Hannibal’s hair, his fingers entwining into his hair and gripping carefully. Will felt his head spinning with pleasure, heard himself panting with every breath… but then the other halted his movements, staying completely still, Will inside his mouth.

Will missed the friction immediately, and when he looked at Hannibal in the eye, he knew what he was doing. Will tightened the grip on his hair a little and moved his hips slowly forwards at first, Hannibal taking him without resistance. Will felt his jaw hanging open at the feeling of Hannibal’s velvet tongue against his underside again. The second time, he wasn’t so scared of hurting him, and the third time he pushed inside him, Hannibal used his grip on Will’s hip to pull him even deeper into his mouth. Will moaned loudly, letting the back of his head hit the wall as his eyes closed of their own volition. He kept thrusting into Hannibal’s mouth carefully, and when he felt himself getting too close, he suddenly loosened the hold on his hair and pulled back. Once he was out of his mouth, Hannibal still leaned in to lick another long stripe across his underside.

“Hannibal, s- stop…” Will said, and he beckoned him to stand up.

He did so, licking his lips, and Will groaned a little.

“Get… get the lube.”

Hannibal’s upper lip twitched, and Will bit his lower one, still panting.

“Are you… sure?” Hannibal asked him, his voice so low Will wouldn’t have heard him if they hadn’t been pressed so close to each other.

Will nodded. “I am… Get it. Please.”

Hannibal observed him for a couple of seconds, and then he finally moved, leaving the room with determined steps. Will went to the bed and sat on the edge as he heard the man opening the room across the hall and the wardrobe’s drawer. He returned with the tube Will had already seen, and a box of condoms in hand. He set both things on his bedside table and then went to Will at the foot of the bed. Hannibal sat beside him, and he looked down for a moment.

“Will, you have to know… I didn’t do that with… this purpose.”

Will’s lips arched upwards, and he put a finger under Hannibal’s chin to make him look up. “I wouldn’t be here right now if you had.”

Hannibal smiled too, and he took Will’s hand and lifted it to his mouth. He kissed him softly on the knuckles and then rolled it over to press another kiss to his palm. When Hannibal moved towards the wrist, Will shuddered and pulled Hannibal closer to kiss him on the lips again. The movement pushed Will onto the mattress, and at feeling Hannibal’s body over him, he tensed and the conviction he had felt wavered slightly so. It wasn’t that he was hesitating about what he wanted; it was that he didn’t even know where to start, or how it would happen. Hannibal paused and pulled back at sensing the change in him. Will shook his head, although not very convincingly.

“Will, the second you want to stop-”

“I know. I just don’t know how…”

Will stopped because it was ridiculous. He _knew_ how sex worked, and after knowing about Hannibal’s feelings, he had seen and read things about it worked between men, telling himself that he was just curious. And he knew by now how much he wanted Hannibal… And yet he couldn’t help but feeling a little fear freezing him for a moment.

Hannibal then pulled completely back, and Will tried to hold him back, but let him move when he realized Hannibal wasn’t getting up the bed, but pushing himself backwards to the center of the same. When he sat there and offered him his hand, Will accepted it as he crawled towards him. He straddled Hannibal’s thighs and he felt the slight fear he had felt vanishing as he circled Hannibal’s shoulders and bent over to kiss him again. This time, it was Hannibal the one who fell on his back on the mattress, Will standing on all fours over him. He had to pull back for a moment to look down at him. Because Hannibal was, once again, offering himself to Will in every way. It wasn’t like they weren’t already joined together. But having Hannibal, a natural predator, surrendering to him over and over not only because he knew it was what Will needed, but because he _wanted_ to, was something Will had yet to get used to.

Will smiled then, descending again to brush at Hannibal’s lips before getting off him to pull his underwear down. Hannibal helped him lifting his hips, and as Will threw the garment away, Hannibal reached to the nightstand and took both things. Will’s heart started hammering inside his chest again, but this time not feeling scared. He thought Hannibal would turn them over, would want to be on top. And yet, he surprised him once again by pressing the lube into Will’s palm, leaving one of the condoms on the mattress at hand’s reach.

“Only what you want, Will. Stop as soon as you need to,” Hannibal told him.

Will stayed frozen for a moment, Hannibal’s stomach heaving, his cock thick, flushed and curved against it. Will looked once again to the tube in his own hand, and then he couldn’t help but bend over him again to kiss him hard on the mouth, Hannibal moaning loudly when Will grabbed his cock. He dragged his hand up and down along his length, even though he was already hard and leaking.

When Will straightened again, it was to uncap the lube and pour a little into his fingers, feeling it between his forefinger and thumb.

“Do you want me to do it?” Hannibal asked when he didn’t do anything else, but Will shook his head.

“No, no, I want to. Just… tell me if I do something wrong.”

Hannibal nodded, and then he adjusted himself in the mattress. He put one of their cushions behind his hips to lift himself up and bent his knees at both of Will’s sides. Will settled between his legs and looked down at him, biting his lower lip. He poured a lot more lube into his hand and set the tube aside. Hannibal nodded at him, reaching out to take his other hand and pull him closer. And finally, Will lowered his hand. He started spreading the lube across Hannibal’s hole, and then he circled his fingers around it. Hannibal groaned a little, and his breath became uneven, which encouraged Will to keep going. After a moment, Will bent completely down to press his forehead against Hannibal’s, and he pushed the first finger inside. Will stilled when he felt Hannibal clenching around him, the grip on his arm tightening for a second. But then Hannibal breathed out and relaxed, and Will’s finger slipped further in slowly. When he was completely buried in, he realized he had been holding his own breath, and so he exhaled raggedly as he started pulling back a little and pushing inside again. It was a strange, yet not weird feeling, as he had thought it would be, and soon he enjoyed the way Hannibal’s breath changed too as he slowly got used to the intrusion.

“Another,” Hannibal asked him after a moment, and Will complied.

Will tilted his head to press a breathless kiss to the corner of Hannibal’s mouth as he pressed into him again, this time with two fingers. He fucked him slowly as he kissed him on his jaw and neck, feeling the slight stubble against his lips. He sensed when Hannibal was ready for him to add a third finger by himself, and so he did. When he slid inside him further than before, reaching something he could only guess what it was, Hannibal arched his back from the bed as he moaned. Will stilled for a second, but Hannibal gripped his upper arm tighter again.

“Ah- _Will_ …”

He resumed what he had been doing, and he didn’t stop. Will kept kissing and licking at Hannibal’s neck, the man baring his throat to grant him further access. When he went again deep into him, Hannibal moaned once more, and he squirmed beneath him.

“W- Will. Enough.”

He pulled out and back, and he smiled at seeing Hannibal completely ruined beneath him, his skin sweaty and breathless, looking at him through heavy-lidded eyes.

Will straightened to put on the condom, hissing at how hard he was, and then he added more lube.

“Do you want me to turn around?” Hannibal asked when he was done.

In answer, Will settled again between his legs, his thighs against the back of Hannibal’s when he stood on all fours above him. Will lined himself up and he gasped when he saw and felt the head of his cock pressing against Hannibal’s entrance. Will looked at him in the eyes again as Hannibal cupped his cheek and set his other hand on his waist. And then, Will finally pressed forwards.

They both moaned in unison, accompanying Will’s slow movement until he was completely inside, where he stilled. He buried his face in the crook of Hannibal’s neck and hugged him tightly against him, Hannibal doing the same, circling his back with both hands. Will couldn’t believe how close, how _everywhere_ he could feel the other, Hannibal surrounding him completely at the same time that _he_ was surrounding him. They stayed like that until Will felt Hannibal wriggling beneath him, and so he finally started moving, rolling his hips slowly in short thrusts.

Will moved slightly back to nip at Hannibal’s collarbones, and when he sank his teeth harder in the point where neck and shoulder met, Hannibal growled and moved one of his hands to cup Will’s buttocks, his fingers sinking there. Will pulled further back then, sliding his hand between both of their stomachs and wrapping his fingers around Hannibal’s cock as he changed the rhythm, his thrusts growing longer and faster. Both of their gazes didn’t leave the other as Will kept moving over him, adjusting his thrusts when he knew he was hitting the spot inside Hannibal, the man baring his teeth and not being able to contain deep and almost feral sounds from going out of his throat.

When Will felt himself getting too close, he quickened the rhythm, tightening the hold around Hannibal’s erection too. Hannibal came first, spilling over his own stomach and chest as Will bent down again to kiss him, their mouths meeting in between ragged breaths.

Will buried his face again in the crook of Hannibal’s neck when he felt his orgasm building inside him, and Hannibal held him tightly against him, Will grabbing Hannibal’s hair. He came with a cry, so deep inside Hannibal and as joined together as they had been when they had killed together.

They didn’t move for a while after Will pulled out of him. He collapsed on top of Hannibal, their chests heaving together as their breaths returned to normal. Will finally raised his head to look up at him, and he smiled tiredly but blissfully when he saw Hannibal’s teary eyes.

“I…” he started, but he felt a lump in his throat.

Will realized he was still gripping the other’s hair, and so he loosened his hold and brought his thumb to Hannibal’s cheekbone, where he brushed a tear away.

“I love you…”

It was such a banal, petty word for what Will felt for Hannibal, and for what they were to each other. And yet it was the only one that grasped even just a little what he would’ve liked to express in that moment, the only that that began to describe the desperate fire inside Will every time he looked at him.

Hannibal shed another tear, and his hands at Will’s back twitched, tightening his hold as Will leaned in again. He sucked a slow kiss at his lower lip, and when he pulled back, he caught Hannibal’s tears before they got lost into his hairline.

“I love you, too, Will,” Hannibal said, finally able to speak, and Will chuckled and fought not to cry himself.

They went to the bathroom once they could move again, cleaning each other before returning to bed. Will put on his boxers and nothing else, and so did Hannibal, and they lay down together in a mess of tangled limbs and hands reaching to the other. Will put his head on Hannibal’s shoulder and sighed as he hugged Hannibal tightly around his middle. Hannibal put one of his hands on top of Will’s forearm, cradling his head with the other. Will nuzzled into him, inhaling Hannibal’s scent and closing his eyes as his entire body still hummed with bliss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I almost finished the fic (I only have to write the epilogue), so I can finally say that it will be 11 chapters + the epilogue :)
> 
> Thank you so SO much to everyone who's reading this, and everyone who's leaving kudos, comments, etc. You really have no idea how much they mean to me!!<333
> 
> ETA. I made a manip to go with the chapter, [here](http://starkaryen.tumblr.com/post/150822110468/the-weight-of-your-touch-chapter-9-fandom) :)


	10. Chapter 10

Will woke up with Hannibal’s back pressed to his chest. As soon as he managed to focus and identify what the expanse of skin that he had in front of him was, and what his arm was embracing, he smiled and nuzzled sleepily between Hannibal’s shoulder blades. He inhaled and his lips stretched out further; he smelled Hannibal’s scent mixed with his own from what they had done last night, drenching them both. It was such an intoxicating and natural scent, Will thought he didn’t want to smell anything else ever again. In fact, he didn’t want to get out of that bed, but in that moment he stirred and realized that he _had_ to get up, more sooner than later. He sighed quietly as he disentangled himself from Hannibal’s middle and the man’s own arm without waking him up. He somehow managed it, and he tiptoed all the way to the door, glancing at Hannibal’s sleeping and almost completely naked form just before going out of the room.

Will went to the bathroom to relieve himself, and since he was already there, he brushed his teeth and washed his face. After drying himself with a towel, he looked at his reflection in the mirror, and he smiled again. He remembered the night before, Hannibal’s hands on his skin, the way he had felt him everywhere, and he felt a shiver running across his spine only with the memory. A soft knocking on the door made him return to the present.

“Will?”

Will set the towel on the rack, and he opened the door with half a smile. Hannibal was standing on the other side, his eyes still half lidded, hair completely disheveled and pointing out to the opposite side of which he had slept on, and still wearing just his pair of tight, black underwear.

“Are you alright?” he asked, trying to maintain a flat tone of voice. But Will saw right through him, perceiving the hint of concern, probably at having woken up alone in bed. Will nodded.

“Yeah, sorry. Nature called,” he explained, pointing towards the bathroom.

Hannibal nodded, and Will went out of the bathroom, passing next to Hannibal and brushing his forearm on his way.

“I’ll wait for you in bed.”

He didn’t mean anything by it, but he still blushed right after saying it, pausing for a second but not turning to see Hannibal’s expression. At returning to the bedroom, he took his own pants from the crumpled mess their clothes were, lying carelessly across the floor. He took the paper Hannibal had given him the night before and he threw himself onto the bed, face up and splayed over the mattress, occupying more than half of it. He read the address again, most of the words not meaning anything to him except for the town’s name, and so he finally set it on his bedside table with a sigh.

Will had never liked lingering in bed. Sleeping had been hard enough for him most of his life, the horrors he had repressed finding their way to his mind in his dreams. But right now, Will just wanted to be there a little longer… except not alone. When Hannibal came back from the bathroom, Will rolled to lie on his side to give him space, and also as a silent invitation for him to return to bed. Hannibal got on it then, imitating Will’s posture on his side, sliding his arm under his pillow and putting his head on top of it. They were facing each other, and Will let his eyes roam across Hannibal’s face in a silent exploration. He realized his light stubble was growing a little, and he wondered if Hannibal would let a beard grow there at some point. He tried to picture him with it, but he couldn’t get past the way his cheekbones looked even more accented with the slight shadow in that exact moment. Will’s gaze also lingered on the way the light that came through the wide window brightened one of his eyes - the other obscured by Will’s shadow on him – and made it look amber. But the spot his eyes ended up anchoring to, was Hannibal’s mouth. He had his lips slightly parted, and Will could see the man’s sharp canines behind those strange, yet beautiful lips.

Will wet his own as a reflex, and forced himself to look back at Hannibal’s eyes. He smiled at him in that moment, and Will felt his cheeks blushing a little, and so he cleared his throat.

“What about we go downstairs in a bit, have breakfast… and then we discuss the conversation we left off last night?”

Hannibal arched an eyebrow at the ‘ _left off_ ’, and Will felt his blush deepening. He smiled and leaned towards him, shifting his entire body to push Hannibal onto the mattress with his own weight as he leaned closer to his mouth. He looked at him from above, one of his legs entwined between Hannibal’s, one of his hands pressed flat on his chest, feeling the hair there between his fingers. Hannibal’s little smile widened as he nodded.

“I think that’s a good idea,” he said, his throaty voice deeper in the morning and his accent thicker.

“Good,” Will said, and finally leaned down.

Will gave him a chaste kiss, brushing their lips together and closing his eyes as he let his mouth skim across the man’s chin and jaw, feeling the growing hair there. Will pressed his lips in a kiss on his throat, and he felt Hannibal baring his neck for him and shifting his entire torso, as if that simple kiss was the only thing needed to disarm him completely.

He hadn’t intended anything else with that kiss, but after that, Will discovered that he couldn’t, and didn’t _want_ to stop. He kept going down, enjoying the way Hannibal’s throat clicked when he kissed him on the hollow of his collarbones, the way he couldn’t repress a low groan when Will bit him gently on his shoulder, or the way he writhed a little when he mouthed and licked at the bite.

It was so, _so_ different than being with a woman. Will’s hands slid across Hannibal’s sides and didn’t find any curves, but strong, firm muscles. And Will found that not only did it not bother him, but that he very much loved it. Will was very aware that the way he felt as he kissed a path down the body beneath him, had nothing to do with Hannibal being a man, and everything to do with Hannibal being _Hannibal_. But he still had thought it would be harder. When his mouth found its way to Hannibal’s chest, he thought he would be bothered by the hair there; he wasn’t. When he kept going down and had to set between Hannibal’s legs to keep kissing down his stomach, and he felt Hannibal’s bulge against his chest, he thought the idea would at least frighten him a little; Will felt his heart beating faster, but he grabbed Hannibal’s hips and kept drawing a path down with his lips, encouraged.

Will diverted his course to the side of Hannibal’s stomach, where he found the scar of the gunshot wound. He slid his tongue out and pressed it flat over the ridges of the round scar, and Hannibal gasped in earnest then. As Will mouthed and licked at the mark, he felt how much Hannibal was restraining himself not to buck his hips upwards in the way he was panting and almost trembling. When he pulled back for the first time since he had began kissing him, he looked up at him and saw how breathless Hannibal already was, and when Will straightened and sat back on his heels, he saw how hard he was inside his underwear. That sight went straight to Will’s own cock, and he had to look down for a second to breathe. But he wasn’t going to shy away from that, not this time, and so he lay down right beside Hannibal to properly kiss him. Will hooked his thumb on Hannibal’s boxers and started pulling them down as their mouths met in a clash of lips, tongue and teeth, of breathless kisses and Hannibal’s moan when he helped Will take off his underwear and his erection sprang free. Will abandoned his lips at that to discard the garment completely, and when he wrapped Hannibal’s cock with his hand, the other cried out as he bucked up into Will’s fist. Hannibal put one of his hands on Will’s back and buried his face into the crook of his neck, Will feeling the puffs of air as he started dragging his hand up and down, mesmerized by the movement, by the way the foreskin rolled down and Hannibal’s stomach clenched for a second when Will thumbed at the slit. He felt Hannibal’s fingers digging into the skin of his back, and then Will couldn’t bear it any longer.

He crawled over Hannibal’s body, settling between his legs and holding onto one of the man’s hips with a hand, as he had done before. But when he took his erection in hand, that time Will leaned in. He pressed his mouth to the inside of his thigh, and he grazed there with his teeth. Will felt Hannibal’s cock throbbing against his palm as he groaned softly. Then he let his lips drag upwards until he reached his groin. The strong, musky scent of Hannibal’s arousal was heavy, but Will still didn’t find it unpleasant at all. It was entirely manly, it was entirely _Hannibal_ and he found himself leaning forwards with his heart fluttering inside his chest.

The first touch was a tentative lick right above where his hand was wrapping around Hannibal’s length. The musky scent intensified, and Will pressed his tongue flat with a soft groan. It wasn’t the same letting a man do that to him than do it himself, but he still found that not only he wasn’t scared away; he went forwards. Will licked a long, slow stripe up, and when he tasted Hannibal’s precome, he did pull back in a jerk. He swallowed the salty, stronger taste, and he looked up at Hannibal, who was staring down at him, holding his breath. He breathed out then, his stomach tensing as he propped himself over his elbows.

“You don’t have to do that, Will,” Hannibal said, his voice strained with his arousal.

“Lie back,” Will asked him, ignoring his concern, his hand moving from his hip to press gently onto his stomach.

Hannibal did so, and Will caressed his skin from his belly to his hip, where he gripped again, sinking his fingers a little as he descended once again. He repeated the movement, pressing his tongue against his underside and licking up to the head. This time, when he reached the slit, he was prepared, and he wrapped his lips loosely around it, pressing with this tongue. Hannibal arched his back at that, a strangled moan escaping his lips as he clutched the sheets at both of his sides. Will pulled back and did it again, and again. And the next time, instead of pulling back after reaching the head, he wrapped his lips around it in earnest, pressed his tongue against the underside, and swallowed him slowly and gradually. Will closed his eyes as he went down, and he moaned around Hannibal’s erection when he started pulling back. The low rumble that elicited out of Hannibal’s throat encouraged him to keep going, guessing he was on the right track. He pulled back to breathe, and when he wrapped his lips around him again, Hannibal rested one of his hand on his nape. He didn’t press or push him in any way, but when Hannibal’s breath accelerated even more, he grabbed a little of Will’s hair there.

“Will. _Will_ , ah!”

He moved backwards and looked at him, and only then Hannibal pulled him up. Their mouths met again, and Will returned to move the hand he still had around Hannibal’s cock up and down, now slicked with his own saliva. Will only needed a few tugs until Hannibal thrust upwards into Will’s fist with a low moan, coming over his stomach, Will biting Hannibal’s lower lip a little as they kissed.

Will slumped onto his back next to Hannibal, heavily breathing, and Hannibal rolled to his side, pressing himself to Will. He nuzzled into Will’s hairline and draped his arm over his stomach, where his fingers caressed the scar there, and downwards, until his hand cupped his erection. Will hissed, lifting his hips up into Hannibal’s hand. He had been so focused on Hannibal’s pleasure, Will hadn’t realized just how hard he was himself. Hannibal’s palm was hot over him, and he arched his back, searching for the friction. Will turned a little in his embrace, pressing his back to Hannibal’s chest and spreading his thighs. When Hannibal rubbed his entire hand against the fabric, Will moaned and reached backwards to grab at Hannibal’s buttocks, sinking his fingers there. Hannibal didn’t make him wait anymore, sliding his hand into his boxers and freeing his cock before starting moving it up and down over his length. He knew how close Will already was, and so he didn’t start in a slow pace. He gave him exactly what he needed, and Will moaned loudly again as he turned his head around, searching for Hannibal’s lips. He found them immediately, the man’s tongue meeting Will’s as his fingers worked deftly on his erection. Will came with a cry, the orgasm bursting inside him and rendering him breathless, speechless, his mind completely blank.

Hannibal kept kissing the corner of his lips and his jaw in sloppy, gentle kisses while the hand he hadn’t had wrapped around his erection circled beneath his head to cradle Will against him and caressed his curls.

They stayed like that until they could move again, and they went to the shower in an unspoken mutual decision. Hannibal stepped in first, and Will followed him but stayed out of the water at first. He allowed himself to observe, once again. He watched as Hannibal’s now soft cock hung between his legs, and how Hannibal, unashamed and proud as always, rinsed the soap. Will joined him then, touching Hannibal’s clean shoulder and smiling when he opened his eyes. Hannibal traded places with him under the water, and he offered him the shower gel and his sponge, but Will didn’t take them. Instead, Will turned around, offering him his back. Hannibal started scrubbing his back gently, pressing the sponge from the nape and shoulders, across his shoulder blades and down to his lower back. Will closed his eyes at feeling the soft fabric circling his middle and rubbing at his stomach in intimate touches that didn’t seek anything else.

Once they finished in the shower and they were both dry and changed into new clothes, they went down to the kitchen and prepared breakfast together, which they ate in a comfortable silence, and then did the dishes together unhurriedly. After that, they finally moved to the living room, where they sat at each sides of the sofa, Will with both legs bent and his bare feet underneath him, Hannibal with just one of his legs folded beneath him. Will took the piece of paper out of his pants’ pocket and rolled it in his fingers.

“You kept it,” Hannibal started. Not a question, but Will still nodded and set the paper on the coffee table.

“You tracked him down for me,” he said. Not a question, either, but it was Hannibal’s turn to nod. “Did you learn his schedules?”

“Not entirely. I know where he keeps his sheep, I followed him home and waited around his house. He seems to live alone, I only saw him going in with the dog and nobody else arrived for a few hours.”

Will nodded, and he then imagined Hannibal, hunched in the car to not being noticed, the man completely unaware of the danger that loomed outside his house. Will swallowed, but once again, he didn’t feel any sympathy towards the man, any remorse for the decision he had made. He felt his blood boiling inside him, his heart beating a little louder as his mind foresaw the outcome. But he forced himself to stop, and focused back on Hannibal, who was observing him with his head tilted, as if he could see inside his skull. And being him, it was entirely possible Hannibal knew what he was thinking in that moment.

“ _If_ we do this… We do it my way,” Will said, his voice serious. Hannibal’s lips stretched almost imperceptibly before he nodded once again. “And… we will need to go away right afterwards.”

“Yes. That’s why I hurried in doing this after we saw the newspaper,” Hannibal said, and Will bit the inside of his lip.

Hannibal had been so careful in his solo trips while he carried out this _surprise_ for him, except the previous day. And now that Will knew everything, it made sense. They would have to move away from the house, from the country, and soon. And that’s why Hannibal had spent the entire day out, because it was the last chance he had to locate the man and bringing the address to Will as an offering.

“Where will we go next?” Will asked, but he was more thinking out loud than asking Hannibal.

“Do you have any preferences?”

“Not exactly. Although…” Will said after a couple of seconds, and he looked up at Hannibal’s eyes. “You have ways to find people, don’t you?”

“I do,” Hannibal confirmed.

Will thought Hannibal must have people, _contacts_ that did that job for him if he needed it. And perhaps he could do everything through Chiyoh, so nothing could trace back to them.

“I want you to find someone. She will probably be hiding, so she’ll be hard to locate, but I don’t think it’s impossible.”

Hannibal’s brow twitched, and Will knew Hannibal had known immediately who he was talking about. Hannibal wet his lips slowly, and he parted them before speaking.

“I can locate her.”

“Good. If you play, you pay… She hasn’t paid at all.”

Will felt his skin prickling as Hannibal made him wait a long moment. Finally, he smiled, the corner of his lips curving slowly upwards, and Will imitated him. He reached out across the sofa and took one of Hannibal’s hands in his, squeezing a little.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was completely unplanned. Initially this was supposed to be the last chapter, but when I started writing it, Will and Hannibal (and smut) happened... and who am I to oppose to them? xD


	11. Chapter 11

The following days, they alternated between preparing everything to go away, and a few trips to the town. The shepherd led an easy life: he woke up and took his flock of sheep to graze. He stayed most of the day in the fields of the mountain, and then he returned the sheep to their fold. He stayed there completing his routine until the sun was about to set, then he would run a few errands, and go to his house. Hannibal had been right; he lived alone, the poor dog being the only possible witness for what was about to occur. It was an uncomplicated life, and it made things very simple for Hannibal and Will.

Still, even if it wouldn’t be too hard, they would need to go away as soon as they acted. Even if the man lived alone, it was a small town and everyone knew everyone. It wouldn’t be too long until someone noticed that the shepherd had disappeared. That’s why, when they weren’t in the town, they started packing the clothes they had collected, as well as the things they had bought like a few books, the records, Will’s fishing equipment or Hannibal’s now not empty sketchbook.

The morning before the one they had chosen as _the_ day, they returned to the clearing by the river. They had lunch there, and since it was a particularly nice day, the weather warmer than the previous ones, Will took off his shoes and rolled his pants up to walk in the bank of the river. He hissed at feeling the cold water, but when he got used to it, he swung his feet under it and smiled, sighing. He looked back at Hannibal, who was sitting on their rock, leaning back and supporting himself on his palms. He was watching him with a little smile on his lips, and Will felt his heart tightening at the simplicity of the situation. Nothing at all between them had been simple before, and he knew it wouldn’t always be. But being able to just stand there, completely unguarded and carefree with Hannibal… Will was still for a long moment, drinking in the sight and the sensation.

That night, they ate the last trout from the ones Will had fished weeks before in the river. Will helped Hannibal prepare it, and still, as soon as he took the first bite, he couldn’t stifle a soft groan. Will looked at Hannibal across the table, and took his glass of wine.

“Are you nervous? About tomorrow,” Hannibal asked him.

Will considered it for a second. He obviously had a minor concern for everything that could go wrong, but they had devised their plan and gone through it together. He wasn’t worried or nervous about it, and so he shook his head.

“No. I am a bit sad, though. I really like the house. The place. The river…”

Hannibal smiled a little as he nodded.

“I know. Perhaps we’ll be able to come back some time,” he offered, but they both knew it would be unlikely. It was a risk, an unnecessary one. “Still, we will have it in our mind palace. The house… and the river.”

Will’s lips stretched out in a wide smile. He had already added that river to his mind palace, always with the presence of Hannibal there, even when he imagined himself fishing. It hadn’t come as a surprise, since Hannibal had been in his mind palace for years now, since before he even knew who and what that presence was. But now it was a calming feeling, every time Will saw him there in the river, with him.

When they moved to the living room, Hannibal excused himself for a second, going upstairs. Will took a sip from his glass of whiskey, and when Hannibal reappeared in the room, he set it down and scooted over the couch to let him sit. As soon as he did, Hannibal offered him with both hands something that didn’t leave much room to imagination. It was a small knife, the blade bent and tucked inside the brownish handle.

“The handle is made of fallow deer’s antler, and the blade is stainless steel,” he explained as Will took the knife.

Will turned it on his hand, examining it, and then he took the blade and opened it until the safety clicked, the knife completely open. He lifted it and turned it a little, seeing how the steel caught the flames’ light. But he soon focused back on Hannibal’s face behind it, on the fond, little smile on his lips, and so he lowered it.

“When did you even buy this…?” he asked, remembering the knife Hannibal had bought in the hunting gear store; that wasn’t the knife Will had in his hand.

“In one of my… _excursions_ ,” he said, referencing how Will had called them. “We don’t have the best of memories with knives, so… Why don’t we start anew? You have yours, I have mine… And we have tomorrow.”

Will looked down at the knife again. He folded it back, closing it and setting it beside his glass of whiskey. When he turned, he grabbed Hannibal’s nape and pulled him closer, their lips meeting in an unhurried and deep kiss. When they parted, Hannibal wet his lips, probably tasting the whiskey from Will’s. They finished the drinks they had poured in a hushed, calm conversation about the next day, and then Will took Hannibal’s hand and guided him upstairs, where they explored each other’s skins as they had kept doing the days before.

****

They set off an hour before sunset. When they arrived at the town, only a ray of sunshine was peeking out right from the top of the mountain range.

The shepherd’s house was, luckily for them, away from the center of the town. It was near the fields and close to the sheepfold, and so it was far from everyone else. They parked the car hidden from the main road, and close enough for them to go the rest of the way to the house on foot. They did that, making the walk in silence and with less and less light every passing minute.

A slight smell of livestock told them that they were getting close, and finally the house with light spilling from a couple of windows came into view. They stopped at a safe distance to put the gloves they had bought days before on. They knew the dog was kept in a shed next to the house, and even though his master was such a bastard, Will knew the dog would start barking as soon as they got closer. Dogs were _that_ loyal.

Once they were ready and the sun had completely set, they looked at each other and nodded. And so it began.

They walked towards the house, purposeful and side by side. When they got close enough, the dog heard them and started barking from his confinement, as they had predicted. In that moment, they moved apart. Will continued towards the main entrance, where there was a bush next to the porch in which he could hide. Hannibal, though, moved to circle the house, towards the back. As soon as Will crouched inside the bush, the main door swung open. The light from the inside spilled out in a rectangle cut with the shape of the shepherd, and Will clutched the knife in his hand tighter and pressed his body closer to the house’s wall. The man stepped outside, and only when he turned the corner of the house, Will could see the rifle he was pointing at the darkness, searching for the origin of the dog’s distress. When he couldn’t find anything, he lowered the gun and turned to the shed.

“ _¡Callate, boludo!_ ”

The dog kept barking, doing his job, and the man bared his teeth in a groan and stumped towards the shed. That was Will’s opportunity, and as soon as the man was far enough, cursing through gritted teeth, he went carefully out of his hiding and slipped into the house. He quickly assessed the rooms inside. From the hallway in which he had entered, he saw a messy living room with the TV on to his left, a kitchen to his right and stairs to go upstairs in front of him. The back door was at the end of the hallway, behind the stairs, and he saw that it was slightly open. Not noticeable if he hadn’t known that Hannibal was due to come in that way. Will heard the man yelling at the dog, and he clenched his jaw, but he went into the kitchen, where he hid behind the door, waiting in the shadows. The dog stopped barking, and finally the man returned to the house after a couple of minutes.

Will heard him getting in, a thud in the hall of something being set on the floor and dropped against the wall – which Will guessed would be the rifle –, the light from the hallway being turned off, and then the man went to the living room, where Will heard him sitting with a heavy sigh. Will went out of the kitchen only when he heard the volume of the TV getting higher. He saw the rifle leaned against the wall beside the door, as he had guessed, and he took it. Carefully, he removed the two bullets in the magazine, pocketing them just in case, and set the rifle back on the floor. When he turned around, he saw Hannibal standing at the end of the hallway, and he nodded towards the living room. Will nodded affirmatively, and so Hannibal disappeared again, going to the other entrance of the room while Will remained in the main one. He couldn’t see the shepherd from the doorframe, and so he leaned closer, peeking out until he managed to see the man’s legs. He stopped there, looking down and adjusting the knife in his hand. Finally, he went into the room in slow, measured steps.

The room was only illuminated by the TV and a small table lamp, and the man was looking directly at the screen. That’s why, even with Will standing right there, it took the shepherd a few seconds to notice him. His eyes finally moved from the TV to the corner of the room in which he was standing, and Will saw clearly the moment in which the confusion and terror seized him. The man jumped to his feet, cursing in Spanish and fumbling around the chair while his eyes didn’t leave him. Will, in answer, started walking to him as the man shouted at him questions that went unanswered. Each step backwards of the man was matched by one of Will forwards, until the man’s terror suddenly changed, turning into anger as he yelled at Will.

Will’s eyes travelled then to the man’s side. Because right there, emerging from the shadows, was Hannibal; silent as death, terrible and sublime standing right behind him. The man noticed how Will’s focus had changed, and he turned for a second. It was all it took for the man to react, and he jumped towards the table in the room. Will realized what he was going to do, but when the man took the lamp, tore the plug from the wall and threw it with surprising strength towards Will, all he could do was duck, dodging the object by only a few inches. When he recovered from the desperate attack, though, the man had already dashed out of the room towards the hallway, and he heard the main door opening. Will looked at Hannibal for a second as he walked across the room and towards him, and they went after him in unhurried steps.

The shepherd hadn’t gone too far; he had merely gone out and taken his rifle with him so he wasn’t cornered in a room, so he could have space to move and shoot at them with his gun. It would have been a good strategy, except, when he raised the barrel, he pointed it at Hannibal first and shot, but nothing came out of it. Will and Hannibal stopped in front of him, and he pocketed his free hand and raised it with one of the bullets between his fingers. Will gave him a little smile.

“Looking for something…?” he said, not even caring if the man couldn’t understand him.

The man’s eyes widened even more in a grimace of terror. And then, the three of them moved at the same time.

Hannibal moved to the man’s left as Will did the same to his right. The shepherd grabbed the handle of the rifle with both hands and swung it towards them. Will wasn’t close enough yet, so all he had to do was step backwards, but Hannibal had to bend over so the gun didn’t hit him. In a fast, lithe movement that belonged more to a cat than a man, Hannibal recovered his position, grabbed the shepherd’s arm and hit him with his knee. He dropped the gun at that, and stumbled backwards. Will was already moving out of instinct, and he leapt towards him to stab the man at his side. A cry of pain filled the night’s air, but the man was bigger than Will, and he used the last of his strength to shove him to the ground.

The man didn’t want to die without putting up a fight, but they were two, and as much as he would’ve wanted to fight back, as soon as Will hit the ground, Hannibal was already onto the man. Hannibal seized him from behind, expertly choking him with an arm and keeping him in place at the same time. Will stood up immediately, erasing the distance between them. Hannibal changed his hold then, one of his hands grabbing the man’s forehead, the other remaining draped across his chest to keep him pressed against him. The shepherd was writhing to try to free himself from Hannibal, but as soon as Will raised his hand and pressed the already bloody blade against his neck, all movements stopped. The man swallowed, his Adam’s apple brushing dangerously against the edge of the knife, and then he suddenly started sobbing and whispering words that Will didn’t need to understand; _please don’t do this, please don’t kill me_. Will looked into the man’s eyes and remembered the way he had hit the dog, and the way he had treated and looked at Hannibal and him in the street, like they were just garbage. He knew, just by looking into his eyes, that they hadn’t been the first ones to suffer the man’s rudeness, and they wouldn’t be the last ones, had they not been there to end his life tonight.

Will’s gaze changed then, looking into Hannibal’s eyes instead. He had been staring at Will, observing his every move, and he felt himself smiling immediately. Will was very aware of the man between both of them, but at the same time, in that moment, nothing else existed, nothing except Hannibal and him. He could feel the man’s pleasure in sharing this with him again, and Will realized that it was not only Hannibal the one feeling that way.

Years before, he had lied; more to himself than to Hannibal, but he had. He had very much delighted in the Dragon’s death, and he knew that he very much was enjoying this moment. He didn’t only tolerate, and he would not be berating himself afterwards.

Will’s smile widened a fraction at that thought and, without looking away from Hannibal’s eyes, he moved the blade, tracing a curve around the shepherd’s neck and silencing the pleading words. Blood immediately gushed from the cut and splashed into Will’s face and clothes, and Hannibal loosened his hold around the gurgling man, who brought his hands around his own neck as he fell to the ground with a thud. Will looked at him for a moment while life escaped from him in a crimson flow, obscured there in the outside, only illuminated by the moonlight.

When the man stopped moving and his hand fell lifeless to his side, Will gazed up at Hannibal again, ragged breaths going out from his parted lips. Hannibal reached out to him, wrapping his gloved hand around Will’s, his knife still in a tight grip. Will relaxed his fist immediately, and he let out a heavy sigh as Hannibal pulled him around the body until they were standing in front of each other, nothing at all between them. Will raised his hands and closed the bloodied knife to pocket it next to the man’s bullets. He looked at Hannibal again, and he first took one of his gloves off, and then raised his hand to brush a couple of bloodstains from Hannibal’s face. That only made it worse, of course, since he merely spread them out, drawing a red stroke from his mouth to his scarred cheekbone, where Will cupped his face. Will felt his heartbeat quickening, and Hannibal grabbed his shirt at his waist to pull him even closer. Will pressed his forehead to Hannibal’s, and they stood there for a second, the blood on Will’s skin cooling as his heart settled. And finally, he leaned forwards to kiss him, the metallic taste mingling in their mouths as their lips moved together as they had done to kill their prey.

When they pulled back from the kiss and each other’s embrace, they assessed the situation. They didn’t have the time or the resources there to make art out of the body, and even if they had, it wasn’t the wisest thing to do. Will could perfectly see the tableau in his mind, and he knew Hannibal would’ve also liked to do that together, since they hadn’t had the chance to do it with the Dragon, either. But they would have time for that in another moment, and plenty of opportunities. Instead, they returned to the inside of the house to make it look like a robbery gone wrong. It was tasteless, and certainly _not_ their design, but it was what they had to do not to have every possible authority searching for their trail as they went away.

Once they had finished with the house, Will went out again and to the shed where the dog was. He opened the door carefully, not sure how the poor animal would react, but he was curled around himself in the small space. He crouched and took his glove off again, offering him his hand with the palm upwards. He patiently waited until the dog craned his neck to sniff his hand, and then, he pressed his nose and head against Will’s hand.

“Good boy,” Will told him as the animal stood up and put his front paws on top of Will’s legs.

He scratched at his fur for a while, and then he looked at the bowls inside, and he felt another surge of rage when he saw the animal didn’t have any food and the water was almost completely gone. He let the dog out as he took both bowls and turned to go back inside. Hannibal took one of them from his hand, and together they filled them with water and food, so the dog would be fine until the police found the body and could take him to a shelter. When they returned to the shed, Will whistled and the dog returned promptly. As soon as they set the bowls on the ground inside the shelter, the dog started eating the food hungrily, and Will felt his chest tightening at the idea of leaving him there alone for at least a day or two.

“I wish we could take him with us. He seems fond of you already,” Hannibal said then, as if he was voicing Will’s thoughts.

Will turned and observed him for a second, searching for a mocking expression in Hannibal’s expression. But he was completely serious, and so Will smiled and nodded.

“Yeah, me too.”

He knew they couldn’t, and not only because it would complicate immensely their escape plans; if that was supposed to be a robbery gone wrong, it would be suspicious that the dog was nowhere to be found. With a sigh, Will approached the dog and petted him for a last time before closing the shed’s door and walking away with a lump in his throat.

The return to the car was made in complete silence, walking side by side in the darkness with only the moonlight as their guide. When they reached the car, Will got into the passenger seat, and sighed as Hannibal closed his door and turned to face him, the light in the interior of the car fading.

Will looked at the smear of blood in Hannibal’s cheek and the stains on his lips from the kiss, and he smiled.

“It does look black in the moonlight…” he said.

Hannibal beamed at him, and he leaned a little closer to lift his hand and brush Will’s hair from his ear to his nape. Will sighed again, content as he felt his touch, and after a couple of seconds, he withdrew his hand.

“Ready?” Hannibal asked.

Will knew he didn’t mean to the return to the house. He was talking about what awaited for them the next day, when they’d have to go away and figure out the safest way to flee the country and search for somewhere else new to go, and to everything that might happen after that… But while they packed their bags and prepared everything to go, Will had realized he wasn’t worried about that.

He nodded, and reached out between them with his hand facing upwards. Hannibal observed it for a moment, and then moved his own hand to Will’s, but didn’t take it right away. He brushed Will’s wrist with his fingertips, sliding them forwards up to his palm, dragging some of the blood that hadn’t completely dried with them. When he finally reached Will’s fingers, he let his own fall in the gaps between them, their hands fitting like the pieces of a puzzle.

Will realized in that moment that he was tired and sore after the short fight. But it didn’t matter, because as soon as he felt Hannibal’s touch, he felt anchored once again. He squeezed his hand a little before looking up again, and he tilted his head.

“Together?” he asked.

“Together,” Hannibal answered without hesitation.

As they had said weeks before in their kitchen, they would figure out and do everything together... And that’s all that mattered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is the "ending" of TWOYT, BUT there's an epilogue coming. It's already written and it only needs to be beta'd and edited one last time, so I'll publish it as soon as I can. I'm going to leave the "thank yous" and everything else for the actual ending :)


	12. Epilogue

Hannibal woke up and immediately knew he was alone in bed. The absence of the now familiar heat beside him was noticeable, and when he opened his eyes and saw it confirmed, he frowned slightly. The space next to him in the bed was empty and cool, and so was the entire bedroom. The light that came through the wide windows told Hannibal that he had slept more than he was used to, and so he got up and went to the bathroom to wash up and brush his teeth.

When he finished and went out of the bedroom, a warm breeze reached him from downstairs. He walked as quietly as he could, his bare feet padding on the parquet. As soon as he made it downstairs, he crossed the dining room and into the living room. It was a spacious, hexagonal-shaped and well-illuminated room with wide windows – Hannibal had asked for them specifically when they were searching for the house – from which the Mediterranean sun filtered both when the sun was rising and setting. In that moment, the sliding doors that led to the veranda and the garden were wide open, and outside, Hannibal could see Will sitting on one of the chairs around the wooden table, with a mug of a steaming liquid that he could guess would be coffee. Hannibal had begun to suspect that this was becoming one of Will’s favorite spots of the house, and seeing him already there only helped reinforced the idea. Will was shirtless, wearing only a pair of light blue swim trunks that reached a little lower than mid-thigh. He was directly facing the sun, and the light painted a halo around his unruly curls. Hannibal stayed still for a long moment, basking in the beauty of that image.

Having changed identities, countries, hemisphere and season all in the span of a few weeks, they hadn’t had much time to relax and enjoy the calm between them. As soon as they had left the country and continent, they had gone from France to a modest city of Austria, led by the people Hannibal had contacted through Chiyoh. They had gone to a motel much like those they had stayed in at the beginning of their journey in South America, only now things between them were completely different; they weren’t pretending to sleep in separate beds, and they were _definitely_ not just sleeping in it. Right there, laying together in the creaking bed, in the darkness of the old motel, it had been Will who suggested Bedelia’s fate in hushed confessions, Hannibal feeling his steady heartbeat against the hand he had over Will’s chest. The next day, exactly where their information had pointed them to, they found Bedelia.

Hannibal had no feelings whatsoever on whether Bedelia lived or died. But Will had proposed letting her live with all the knowledge she carried, which would weigh on her much more than the leg they were going to take. Hannibal had very much preferred that to the alternative quick ending, and if one day they decided they had to go back, reclaim the rest of her, then they would do so. And Bedelia knew that very well.

That night they feasted upon her, their first shared dinner with another guest in that new life, and Hannibal had fallen in love with Will once again. He could still not entirely believe everything that had happened after the fall. Sometimes, he caught himself wondering whether he had truly died that night. But if this was the afterlife he had to live in for eternity, then he gladly accepted his fate.

After a failed attempt from Bedelia to attack Will, which resulted in only a cut across Hannibal’s forearm when he stopped her, they left her there, the drugs Hannibal had administered her so she wouldn’t be in too much pain already wearing off. Hannibal knew Bedelia was a survivor, an intelligent woman, and so the police would not be looking for Hannibal and Will anytime soon.

After that, they had slowly traveled to the south of Spain, where they had began searching for a house that met all their needs. They found the perfect one on the Mediterranean coast, the house tucked between the ocean and a mountain that didn’t allow any more houses to be constructed near them. It had privacy, it was beautiful, and they only had to walk down a path built into the rocks by the previous owners to get to the beach.

Hannibal sighed contentedly, and right then Will turned around in the chair. His features relaxed immediately upon seeing him standing in the living room, equally shirtless but dressed with his pajama pants.

“Hey,” Will greeted him, beckoning him with a nod to get closer.

Hannibal did so, and as soon as he went outside, the salty, marine scent of the sea hit him with more intensity. He sat on the chair beside Will’s, and as soon as he did so, Will grabbed his wrist and pulled him closer for a kiss. Hannibal complied happily, a warm sensation already bubbling in his belly as soon as their lips touched, and a tingling feeling starting in the spot where Will’s fingers were pressed to his skin. When they moved back, Hannibal’s lips arched up in a smile, and Will leaned backwards in his chair, picking up his mug of coffee and taking a sip from it. Hannibal didn’t take his eyes off of him as the other moved, and when Will set the mug back on the table, his gaze returned to Hannibal too.

“Trouble sleeping?” Hannibal asked him, finally leaning backwards too.

“No, not really,” Will said, and Hannibal nodded. He had been worried that was the reason why Will had been awake sooner than him, when the rest of days they had woken up together. “I slept fine, and then…” he shrugged, nodding towards the shore. “I just wanted to sit here, look at this while I waited for you to wake up.”

“We could have breakfast or lunch down there, on the beach,” Hannibal suggested.

“I’d like that, yes,” Will said, smiling and looking at the beach down the path of rocks.

Hannibal followed the direction of his eyes, tearing his gaze from Will for the first time since he had found him. The waves were relentlessly going back and forth against the shore, the sound a constant and soothing roar. He felt his chest tightening at the idea that this could become _the_ place. Hannibal had no illusions to think that they could stay in one place forever. At some point, someone could recognize them, the news could reach that secluded place… But while both of them had known Argentina had been only temporary, this house could be the _next step_ Will was asking about. And even if the place didn’t matter as long as they stayed together, Hannibal found himself picturing more than a runaway life with Will here.

“You know… one day there could be a boat on that horizon,” Hannibal said, trying to sound nonchalant.

He saw Will turning to look at him, but he continued looking at the beach.

“Really?” Will asked, an amused hint clear in his voice.

Hannibal did look at him then, and he found a smirk on Will’s lips. “Really. And maybe there could be a dog, too, swimming near the shore, going with us on our walks across the beach…”

“A dog?” Will asked in a teasing tone, straightening in the chair and resting both elbows on the armrest, leaning closer to Hannibal once again. He nodded, and Will raised an eyebrow. “You charmer...”

Hannibal imitated his posture, leaning forwards and taking one of Will’s hands with his own, only to take it to his mouth and kiss it on the back. When he lifted his gaze again, he noticed how Will’s eyes had changed, softening and showing something Hannibal had never dared even to imagine seeing in those eyes, but that now was starting to become familiar. He felt Will’s love right before Will lifted his own hand, took him by the nape and pulled him closer once again for a kiss. That was a much different kiss than the first one, though, and Hannibal’s stomach somersaulted when Will sucked on his lower lip and slipped his tongue out, brushing Hannibal’s in a demanding and hungry, yet slow kiss. He tilted his head to deepen the kiss, earning a soft moan out of Will’s throat. When they parted, Hannibal sighed against Will’s lips before pulling further back to look at him.

“You know… I’m not in a hurry to have breakfast,” Will said, looking at him with his head tilted. Hannibal knew what that look meant, as he had been seeing it more and more since Argentina. His smile widened.

“I could certainly wait a little longer.”

Will finally grinned, showing his teeth and brightening Hannibal’s entire world with just that gesture. Will stood up first, taking Hannibal’s hand with his, and so he followed him, completely mesmerized by Will. Hannibal merely looked at the back of his head, at the way the muscles of his back moved as they walked across the living and dining room… But when they reached the stairs, he was unable to stay still anymore.

As soon as they found themselves in the hallway of the upstairs floor, Hannibal pulled Will’s hand towards himself instead of just letting the other pull him. Will spun around with the movement, crashing against Hannibal’s body as he pushed both of them against the nearest wall. Will let out a soft sound at the impact, but as soon as Hannibal pressed his body flush against him, he could clearly see the smile that crept to his lips before Hannibal leaned in to kiss him. Hannibal dropped both hands to the bare skin of Will’s chest while they kissed in unhurried movements. Very slowly, he dragged them downwards to his waist and across his hips, where he met the waistband of Will’s swim trunks. He hooked one of his thumbs on it and teased with his nail at the same time that he ground their hips together. Hannibal moaned softly, feeling Will’s already growing bulge through his pajama pants. But he didn’t pull the swim trunks down yet. Instead, his hands found their way around Will’s hips and he cupped both of Will’s buttocks. It was Will’s turn to move back and let out a soft sound. Hannibal used that that to tighten his hold and pull him up, sliding Will against the wall with his upper arm strength until he lifted him and Will linked his legs around Hannibal’s waist. He didn’t lose any more time, and as soon as Will kissed him again, holding onto his shoulders, Hannibal moved away from the wall and towards their bedroom.

Despite Hannibal being fit and already healed from all his wounds from the Dragon, when he made it to the bed he felt his muscles aching with the strain and under Will’s weight. But it was all worth it when he climbed the mattress with a knee and dropped Will onto the unmade sheets. Hannibal stood on all fours above him, and for a second, he only could stare at him; at Will’s now slightly tanned skin contrasting against the bright, white sheets, making him look even more like he was carved in stone, and at the grin in Will’s lips, the scar on his cheek making it seem even more sly.

Hannibal felt his stomach sinking, falling in love with him yet once more. Will had never been more beautiful, more free and unfeigned as he was now, and Hannibal sighed contentedly as he leaned down to his lips again. He started kissing him slowly, merely a brush of their lips, but Will demanded more immediately, deepening the kiss with a tilt of his head and bucking his hips upwards. Hannibal had to break the kiss to moan softly, and when he returned to the man’s skin he did it by kissing a path down his neck, sliding downwards until he reached Will’s collarbone, where he licked his way to his chest. Hannibal found himself diverting his course until he found Will’s right nipple, where he pressed his tongue flat against the nub, feeling it hardening as Will arched his back to chase his mouth. Hannibal held onto his ribcage and happily gave Will his entire attention, as if he didn’t have it already, always. He licked his nipple over and over, and when he finally pressed his entire mouth and sucked, Will cried out in earnest. Hannibal would’ve moved to the other in that moment, if it weren’t for Will’s hand on his arm pulling him upwards and making him return to his lips. Hannibal felt Will’s other hand skimming across the expanse of his back until he reached his pajama pants. But unlike Hannibal in the hallway, when Will hooked his thumb into the waistband, he did pull both the pants and underwear down without interrupting the kiss. His other hand soon joined the first one, and as he squirmed beneath him, Will managed to slide Hannibal’s pants down the swell of his ass. At that, Will _had_ to break the kiss, circling Hannibal’s waist with both hands to pull him down again so their erections met while kissing Hannibal’s neck.

“Hannibal…” Will muttered in between kisses. He pressed one to his chin, another two down the column of his throat, another just below Hannibal’s ear, which made him shiver with raw pleasure. “Go get the lube.”

Will pulled back, dropping himself against the mattress and disentangling his arms around him. Hannibal moved back and pushed himself up and out of bed, not before kissing the corner of Will’s mouth. Hannibal let his pajamas slide completely down along with his underwear, since they were still hanging from his thighs, where Will had managed to push them. When he went to the adjoining bathroom, the last thing he saw was Will getting up too, and untying the laces on his swim trunks, already hanging low on his hips. Hannibal went straight to the drawer where they kept the lube and condoms. He took the first and omitted the second, as they had been doing after the first few times they had made love.

When he returned to the bedroom, Will was toeing the swim trunks away. At Hannibal’s reappearance, he smiled, turned around slowly and climbed into the bed, where he lay down on his stomach, completely unashamed and lewd. Hannibal stood frozen under the doorframe, because the view was more beautiful than anything he had ever seen, more beautiful than anything his mind could’ve ever conceived. He immediately imagined his own hand sketching the lines on the paper, but not in a thousand lives would he be able to capture the beauty of how the light shone against Will’s skin, how the muscles in his back and thighs rippled, tensing and loosening as he turned and looked at Hannibal over his shoulder, an unspoken question that Hannibal answered by finally moving towards the bed. He sat on the edge and touched the back of one of Will’s thighs, sliding his fingers up. Will was propped onto his elbows, but he dropped his head down, breathing heavily when Hannibal’s hand reached his buttocks and drew a line up to his waist. Hannibal smiled when he halted his movements and Will looked up at him through heavy-lidded eyes, his lips parted to breathe. Hannibal lifted the hand with the lube between them, offering it to him, but much to his surprise, Will shook his head and Hannibal’s smile fell from his lips. Will put his hand over Hannibal’s and gently pushed it down.

“I want you… inside me.”

The words sent a jolt across his entire body, his cock twitching between his legs and his heart hammering inside his chest. Since Argentina, they had explored each other in many ways, Will becoming more and more comfortable with Hannibal and himself. But every time they had had sex, it had been Will taking Hannibal. And Hannibal had absolutely no complaints, but he wanted everything and anything Will could offer to him, and that felt like a last barrier he hadn’t notice that was there, was being demolished.

“Will-” Hannibal groaned, not entirely sure of what he wanted to say, _if_ he wanted to say anything.

“I want to feel you, Hannibal,” Will said before he could go on. “I want _you_.”

Will repeated his name twice before he finally moved, dropping the tube onto the mattress as he propped himself with both hands and straddled Will’s thighs, standing over his back on all fours. Hannibal pressed his lips to the gorge between his shoulder blades, following the river of his backbone with his mouth until he reached his nape. Will ducked his head again, that time letting his entire upper body fall down, flattening himself against the mattress with a low moan. Hannibal let his own body blanket over Will’s, his chest brushing against his back, the inside of his thighs rubbing the outside of Will’s… And when Hannibal started kissing into Will’s curls, following the shape of his skull, his erection slid into the crevice of Will’s ass. Hannibal moaned loudly against his hair, and Will shifted beneath him; he spread his thighs as far as he could having Hannibal’s legs around him, and arched his back as he lifted his hips. It was such a small movement, and yet Hannibal felt the slide of Will’s skin against him, his cock brushing Will’s entrance, and he had to fight not to crumble against Will completely.

He mouthed at Will’s hairline and followed the scar on his cheek down to his mouth, Will turning a little to chase Hannibal’s lips until they fit together in a backwards kiss, their tongues brushing against each other. Hannibal let one of his hands roam over Will’s middle and front, between his chest and the sheets. When he pulled back, he crawled down over his body, brushing Will’s back with his lips only every few inches. He settled in between Will’s spread legs, sitting on his heels and pressing another kiss into his lower back. He took the lube, he opened it and poured a large amount, but once he set the tube on the mattress again, Hannibal looked across his body for any indication of the man’s regret or discomfort. When Will simply gazed back at him in between heavy breaths, waiting and ready, Hannibal finally lowered his hand. He set his other hand on Will’s buttocks to spread it as he brushed his lubed fingers around the taut muscle in careful but determined caresses. He felt Will slowly shifting against the sheets, enjoying Hannibal’s massaging movements more and more. And so, when Hannibal knew he was ready, he paused the circling movements and pressed the first finger inside. Will’s breaths halted altogether when Hannibal reached the second knuckle, and so he stilled his finger. It was merely a second, and then Will breathed out in a gasp, loosening his muscles once again. Hannibal bent over him, supporting himself with his other hand and getting closer to Will once again. He pressed his forehead against his shoulder, and then pressed his lips to Will’s sweaty skin, the humidity and the near ocean giving him a salty scent that Hannibal inhaled as he kissed him over and over while he pushed his finger again. When he was completely inside Will, he let out a soft sound as he squirmed his upper body, as if he was chasing Hannibal’s mouth and body over him. Hannibal pulled back enough to look at him over his shoulder; Will’s eyes were closed, his eyelids fluttering and his rosy lips parted.

“All right?” he asked him before moving again.

“Yeah- yes,” he said, nodding against the sheets. “Keep going.”

Hannibal complied, and he started stroking his finger in and out, at a painstakingly slow pace at first. Will’s breath turned even more ragged, moving his hips slightly in sync with Hannibal’s fingers. When he felt Will was ready, he pulled out and coated his fingers with more lube. He returned to his entrance, but that time he pushed in with two fingers. Will took him easily, and Hannibal moved upwards to press his lips into Will’s jaw, feeling the low rumble in Will’s throat as Hannibal went completely inside him. And then, Hannibal reached inside with both fingers, and Will jerked beneath him as he cried out.

“Fuck!”

Hannibal smiled because he knew Will wasn’t in any pain; on the contrary, Will writhed his upper body with pleasure as he panted, and Hannibal pressed another kiss into his cheek. Hannibal realized he was also breathing heavily already, so focused on Will’s pleasure that he hadn’t noticed he was already painfully hard. But he didn’t mind at all, and he focused again on Will. He kept going in and out, brushing his prostate every few thrusts and feeling Will’s entire body moving in tandem with him. Hannibal added a third finger at some point, and he kept massaging Will and pressing little kisses into every bit of skin he could find, easing him even if judging by his state, he wasn’t feeling absolutely no discomfort.

“Hannibal…” Will breathed out, and he knew what he meant.

He pulled carefully out and back, and Will opened his eyes and turned slightly as Hannibal sat on the mattress again. He offered Will his hand, and he took it to sit up too. Hannibal guided him with a hand on his hip, encouraging him to come closer. Will did so, straddling his thighs, taking the lube on his own and pouring a fair amount on his hand without looking away from Hannibal’s eyes.

He was, once again, enthralled by Will’s every single move, and so he merely observed as Will threw the tube away from them and lowered his hand. Hannibal gasped when Will grabbed his cock and started guiding his hand up and down as he coated the lube. They were so impossibly close again, the air feeling heavy and hot between them, their breaths mingling in the short space that separated their mouths. Will then halted his movement and lifted his hips, positioning himself over Hannibal and holding onto him at his shoulders. He helped him with a hand on his hip, and himself with the other to align them. When Will started lowering himself onto his lap, Hannibal circled his waist to properly help and hold him. Will’s jaw hung open in a silent gasp when Hannibal felt the head of his cock going into him, and he couldn’t help pulling Will closer to bury his face into the crook of his neck. They breathed in unison, as one, while Will sank slowly down, his fingers digging into the skin in Hannibal’s neck and shoulders. When Will was finally completely buried into him, they both breathed out, and Hannibal pulled slightly back to look at him. The sun was hitting straight into Will’s face, and Hannibal looked at his stormy blue eyes, now brightened by the morning light.

“Will…” Hannibal said in a hoarse voice. _I love you, I need you, I want you, I am yours, entirely and always, in body, mind and soul._

“I know,” Will said when he didn’t finished his sentence. “I know…”

In that moment, nothing else existed; nothing in the entire world except Will, except the way he shifted his legs a little to press them along Hannibal’s thighs and hips, nothing except his arms around Hannibal’s shoulders and the fingers of one of his hands, sliding from his nape into his hair, where he grabbed a handful of it. Will’s eyes traveled across Hannibal’s features, and when they stopped at his lips, he leaned towards them. Hannibal received the kiss by pressing their bodies even closer, Will’s cock trapped between their stomachs and swallowing the moan that movement elicited out of Will’s mouth.

When Will finally started moving in his lap, Hannibal helped him lift his hips up and then sink back down, but he didn’t alter Will’s movements at all, letting him move as he pleased. Will moaned open-mouthed when he lowered himself again and brushed the spot inside him, throwing his head backwards. Hannibal leaned into the exposed neck, licking up to his chin, where he grazed with his teeth but didn’t bite. Will groaned again as he moved up and down, quickening his rhythm, and sinking his fingers even harder into Hannibal’s shoulder.

In that moment Hannibal couldn’t stay still anymore, and so he used his embrace on Will to push both of them aside and onto the mattress without pulling out of him. Will let out a soft sound as they bounced together, but as soon as Hannibal settled above him, he wrapped his legs around Hannibal’s waist and buried his fingers again into his hair, demanding for him to move, for more. Hannibal began rocking his hips in slow but deep thrusts that left them both muttering each other’s names in breathless pants, Hannibal’s head spinning at how much pleasure he was feeling.

When Hannibal felt himself getting too close, he slid his hand between their bodies and took Will’s erection as he pressed his forehead into the pillow, beside Will’s cheek. The other tightened his embrace around him with arms and legs as Hannibal started drawing out his thrusts, moving faster and deeper still, the fire within him filling him like lava. Will gripped his hair tighter, and suddenly Hannibal felt Will’s teeth sinking into his shoulder, not breaking the skin there, but probably hard enough to leave a mark. It was the last thing Hannibal needed to reach his climax, hitting him with the strength of the Atlantic waves that had received them into their new life.

With the part of his mind that wasn’t numbed by the blinding pleasure, he kept moving his hand over Will, riding his own orgasm into him until Hannibal’s moans were silenced by Will’s own. He tilted his head and pressed his lips and tongue into the pulse point in Will’s neck, feeling the racing heartbeat against his mouth as Will spilled into his hand and between their stomachs.

When they finally subsided, Hannibal pulled back and took his hand to his mouth. Without looking away from the man’s eyes, he cleaned Will’s release from his fingers while they both fought to catch their breath. Will stayed completely still beneath him, observing him, except for a low groan that betrayed him when Hannibal was licking his own fingers clean. But as soon as he finished, the grip on his hair tightened, and Will brought their mouths together again in a tired but fierce kiss.

When Hannibal pulled out, he realized he didn’t want to get up, to get away from Will, so he just collapsed half on top of him, half onto the mattress, both of them unconcerned about the mess. They lay tangled together, Hannibal’s head on Will’s shoulder, and put his hand over his chest, feeling his heart returning to normal while Will caressed Hannibal’s hair in lethargic movements. When Hannibal looked up, a smile appeared on his lips immediately at seeing Will’s sated, peaceful expression, almost glowing with the sunlight.

“I was completely serious about the dog, by the way.”

Will opened his eyes to look at him too, and his lips stretched out in a smile of his own.

“You were…?”

“Yes. I was serious about the boat, too, but we probably should start with the smaller things.”

Will’s chuckle echoed in Hannibal’s core, the most beautiful sound he would ever hear.

“Of course. Because if we’ve done something from the beginning, is taking everything slowly and going step by step…”

Hannibal’s smile widened, and he cocked his eyebrow teasingly.

“Well, there’s always a first time for everything, isn’t there?”

Will pushed him to the side and to his back, and he kissed him as their limbs tangled together, neither of them wanting to let go of the other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand now it's over!! :)
> 
> I haven't been going through my best moment while writing this, so if the final chapters sucked, I'm really sorry xD.
> 
> Thank you, once again, to Llew. Not only for being a wonderful beta, but also for enduring my constant whining and hesitations♥♥. This fic was for you, and still is, so I really hope you've liked it :_)
> 
> Thanks to the rest of the Cannibal Pub (Hannibal Cre-ATE-Ive) who have encouraged me with this. You know who you are.
> 
> And thank you, THANK YOU to those who have read this and left a comment or tweeted me about it, left a kudo, etc. Thank you SO SO MUCH♥
> 
> \----
> 
> All information + links about my writing are [here](https://about.me/mizumohno).
> 
> Say hello to me @ [twitter](https://twitter.com/mizumohno) and [tumblr](http://starkaryen.tumblr.com/) :)


End file.
